Second Chances
by Kyandi-Akatensei
Summary: For years the Seigaku girls' tennis team has been considered beneath the boys'. To redeem their reputation and keep their team running, the girls must work along side the boys in a new mixed tournament where they have to play together with the boys. But can both teams work together when one hates the other? Various pairings. Rating may change.
1. The Deal

_**Summary:**_ For years the Seigaku girls' tennis team has been considered beneath the boys'. To redeem their reputation and keep their team running, the girls must work along side the boys in a new mixed tournament where they have to play together with the boys. Win the tournament and they'll be allow to try for Nationals, lose and they'll be shut down. But can both teams work together when one hates the other? Various pairings. Rating _**may**_ change.

Kyandi: Hello there, my beloved Prince of Tennis fans! For those of you who don't know me, I am Kyandi-sama!

Umi: I am one of her OCs, Shinkoku Umi.

Ranari: And I am another Mentaru Ranari.

Kyandi: Umi and Ranari will be helping me for now. Recently I've read a couple of girl Seigaku team projects and loved them so much I wanted to try one!

Umi: So here we are.

Kyandi: Right! This project will be a slight AU that takes place as if Tezuka came back to Japan, instead of staying in Germany after the U-17 World Cup.

Ranari: If none of your have read the New Prince of Tennis manga, please excuse Kyandi-sama's spoiler.

Kyandi: Hehehe! With that, everyone enjoy and review.

Ranari: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 1 The Deal

"Look. Its the girls' tennis team. They lost at Regionals...again."

Second year Shinkoku Umi, stared fiercely before her, her fellow regulars trudging behind her as her captain lead them through the school grounds. All around the group of dejected girls people whispered and pointed, as if the girls they were so bluntly talking about, couldn't see or hear them.

"Why do they insist on competing when they're so bad? The boys' team is much better."

Umi's jaw tightened while behind her two first years shot those speaking, dirty looks.

They got it. The boys were better. They won more matches and had gotten to Nationals and even won. They had thrived under the leadership of Tezuka Kunimitsu since he took over as captain in his third year of middle school. The girls' team, in the last fifteen years, had never gotten past Regionals. Everyone had to rub it in that the boys' team did better. Because of that, even the teachers looked down on the girls' team. Their coach had even told the girls that if they lost this year, he was going to quit.

Needless to say, he was on his way to turn in his resignation at the very moment.

The girls had tried their hardest. It wasn't like they didn't. They trained hard and went to Regionals with high hopes. Hopes that were dashed when the third year regulars had failed to secure their wins. They had lost before they could reach the semi-finals.

Umi looked up at her captain who walked with her head hung low and her shoulders slumped forward. She had been the one that lost the last match that could have sent them to the semi-finals. Umi had won Singles 2 while her fellow second years, Okuyona Kame and Hariken Safaia, had won Doubles 2. Had their captain won Singles 1 they would have won the match. The pressure had to be horrible. As the current vice-captain, Umi understood pressure.

"There's always the wild card slot, buchou. If we win that match we can still go to Nationals." Umi said, stepping up beside her captain, who looked down at her.

"No Shinkoku. We're done." she replied.

Umi came to a stop, looking up at her captain. It was clear from the tracks on her darker toned face that she had been crying.

"But buchou..." Umi started.

"No, Shinkoku! We've lost! We were never going to make it to begin with! Just accept it!" she told Umi, throwing her hands into the air.

"Not with that attitude we won't!" Umi tired to reason.

"The coach quit, most of the second and third years have as well, and we sure as hell can't expect to win with first year who have never played the game! Give up!"

Umi flinched when the older girl yelled but stood her ground.

"There's still eight of us, buchou! You, me, Kame, Hana, Chisei, Anju, Uiru, and Safaia." Umi protested.

"Anju and Uiru are first years! And I'm done! Face it, Shinkoku, we're through! Next year the captaincy will be your's and then you can make the call. For now _**I'm**_ the captain and I say no!"

Umi stared at her captain as the older girl walked away, all the other third years still left, following her. A hand on her shoulder made Umi turn to her friend, Kame.

"There's always next year, Umi. We're still here." Kame said gesturing to the others behind her.

Safaia and Hana were just behind her, Uiru Komiri, Anju Inari, and Chisei just behind them. All of them smiled at their vice-captain.

"We'll build up the team and prove everyone wrong next year." Kame added.

Umi nodded. There was always next year. They would train to improve, find new, strong teammates, and they would prove everyone wrong. They just had to take it one step at a time.

**8 MONTHS LATER-SPRING**

Eight moths.

The time seemed to pass slowly. With no more tournaments to play, the third years had stepped down to focus on University exams. Umi had taken over as captain of the girls' tennis team with Kame as her vice-captain. Now she was starting her third year and with a new semester that meant new recruits for the team. Umi already knew one; a first year named Mentaru Ranari who had been a tennis champ in middle school.

With this in mind, Umi had gotten up that morning and hurried to school. Kame and Chisei met her at the school gates.

"There's trouble." Kame said the moment she saw Umi.

"What is it?" Umi asked.

"The principal is looking for you. He probably wants to tell us we're an eye-sore to the school and disband us." Chisei replied, flipping the page of her book as she continued to read.

"Chisei!" Kame scolded her friend for her bluntness.

Chisei simply shrugged her shoulders. The girl never apologized for her bluntness. The way she saw it, if you didn't say it bluntly then you were beating around the bush and beating around the bush was a waste of time. Chisei didn't waste time.

"I'll go talk to him now. Go round up the others. Good new or bad news, we're having a meeting." Umi told the two. Both nodded and took off.

Too many things had gone wrong over the last eight months starting with the girls' team having their budget cut to increase the budget for the boys' team to the more recent loss of their courts to make room for a new track for the track and field club. They now had to split the remaining courts with the boys. Umi didn't know how much more her team could take.

Ignoring the fan girls squealing over the arrival of Tezuka and Oishi from the boys' tennis team, Umi hurried off for the principal's office. When she arrived she found the principal, Takanaki, and the coach of the boys' tennis team, Ryuzaki, already awaiting her. This set of warning bells in Umi's head instantly. Especially when both adults turned to her and she could see the bad news written all over Takanaki's old face.

"You were looking for me, sir?" Umi asked.

"Yes. I'll get straight to the point. I'm sorry, Shinkoku-chan but the shcool wants to pull funding completely for the girls' tennis team." Takanaki said.

Why had that not surprised her? Umi had been prepared for this. She knew once their budget started getting cut that it was only a matter of time before the school cut the team completely. After all if the girls kept losing and bringing a bad name to the school they couldn't be left to continue to do so. So yes, Umi had expected this to come and had prepared for it.

"But we're ready this year, sir! Kami and I have whipped the remaining members into shape, Chisei has made better training regiments, Anju and Uiru are working harder together, Kame's and Safaia's teamwork is next to none, and we have a former middle school champ joining this year. We're ready this time!" Umi said wth as much conviction as she could muster.

The two adults looked at each other, Ryuzaki grinning to herself with a I-told-you-so kind of look. Apparently she had known Umi would make this argument and was delighted that she had.

"We were hoping you would say something like that. Good thing for you, Ryuzaki-sensei came to your defense." Takanaki said.

The old man leaned back in his seat as Umi threw a glance at the older woman across from him. Ryuzaki gave her a grin. Okay so now the warning bells in Umi's head had turned into sirens. They were screaming at her to turn around and get her ass out of there.

"There is one way to appease the school board and keep your team going until Regionals and Nationals." he said.

Umi raised one eyebrow, waiting patiently for an answer. It was patience she was finding lacking at the moment as her stomach twisted into knots. Takanaki turned to Ryuzaki.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, since it was your suggestion, why don't you explain?" he asked. Ryuzaki nodded.

"As you know, your coach quit last year. I suggested to the board to take over as the coach for the girls' team. But they still wanted to close you down. So I made a deal with them." Ryuzaki told her.

Umi had mixed feelings about this but she would listen to any kind of idea for saving her team. She had done everything she could think of to save her team. She would gladly except a tiny bit of help from the female coach.

"In two months, just a few weeks before Regionals, there is a new tournament being held. This tournament will be your redeeming moment. The board said win and the school will continue funding you. Lose and the team is shut down. They said if you manage to win and continue winning until Nationals then they would restore the full budget for your team." Ryuzaki explained.

Umi frowned at this. She could sense the unspoken "But" in there somewhere. Umi didn't like "but"s. They always spoke ill for her and her friends.

"Why do I feel that there is a catch to that?" Umi asked. Ryuzaki's smile was back.

"Well...this tournament is a combined tournament." Ryuzaki replied.

Umi just stared at her, expression blank. Ryuzaki could tell, as the young girl stood there blinking at her, that Umi didn't quite understand what she meant by "combined", but she also knew Umi wouldn't be happy when she found out just exactly what that meant for her and her team.

"The tournament is new and requires the cooperation of each school's girls' _**and**_ boys' teams. Meaning you girls will have to train, practice, and compete along side the boys. Since the girls' courts are no more, that makes it easier." Ryuzaki explained.

Umi's heart dropped into her stomach. And there was the catch. Damn, Umi hated catches! This wasn't going to end well. Not with the amount of hate the girls' team had for the boys'. At the sight of the growing green color in Umi's face and growing burning fury in her eyes, both adults had the exact same thought...

This was going to be a long season.

-0-0-0-0-

"What!?"

Every boy on the court froze and turned to look towards the regulars of the Seigaku boys' tennis team. Tezuka's eyes fell on Momo, Kaido, and Eiji who had all yelled when they heard what Tezuka had been told by Ryuzaki.

"Coach Ryuzaki said the tournament requires the combined cooperation of both the school's boys' tennis team and the girls' tennis team." Tezuka told them.

"But the girls hate us! They're always so mean!" Eiji whined.

"They don't have much choice." Oishi said, drawing attention to him.

"Why?" Momo asked.

"The school board wants to completely cut funding on their team since they haven't gotten past Regionals in years. They were given a deal. Win this with us and they continue getting funding. Lose and their team is shut down." Oishi explained.

The boys looked at each other. They could understand the need to do anything to save their team. But they all also knew that the girls wouldn't even talk to any boy in the tennis club because they hated them that much. If they couldn't do that much how could they work with the boys? And it wasn't like the boys purposely set out to make the girls feel bad.

Well...not all of them at least.

Some non-regulars did, and most had come back with injuries for their trouble. Especially if they had been foolish enough to say something to one of the two second year regulars of the girls' team.

"So the girls really don't have much of a choice." Taka said, sympathy clear on his face and in his voice.

Most of them felt sympathy for the girls' team. They really didn't have much of a choice.

"Yes, we really don't have much of a choice."

All of the boys spun around out of surprise when the new voice spoke. Every boy near by stopped to stare at the two girls standing at the gate of the court. Both we're wearing the blue and white jersey and skort of the girls' tennis team regulars.

One of the girls, the one who had spoken, was a pretty brunette, her waist length, honey brown hair was pulled back into a tight, no nonsense ponytail. She was a maturely curved girl who stood about a head shorter then Tezuka. She had a lovely face with rose colored lips, a straight nose, and sharp eyes of a burnt orange color. She wore a whistle around her neck and stood with her arms cross over her chest in a decide-ly Tezuka-like fashion.

The second girl was shorter. Actually she was rather small and thin for her age. She wore her blue-black hair cut short in a chin length page boy. She was equally pretty with fair skin, a heart shaped face, and doe eyed, blue-green eyes that shined from behind a small pair of green framed glasses. She look like she still belonged in middle school, though as the vice-president of the student council, the boys knew she was a third year. Oishi even had class with the girl.

It was also clear...the neither were happy.

"I apologize for interrupting your practice, but as it good manners to introduce yourself to those you will be working with, I and my teammate have come to do just that. I am the girls' tennis team captain, third year, Shinkoku Umi." the brunette said, her voice soft, but strong enough to carry over the courts. A trick that all captains learned.

"This is my vice-captain, third year, Okuyona Kame." she added, gesturing to her shorter friend, who said nothing in reply to the introduction but simply adjusted her glasses.

Tezuka stepped forward but before he could open his mouth, Kame did speak.

"We already know the names and faces of your whole club, Tezuka-kun." she said, Umi giving a nod of agreement.

"As it is obvious you already know about the future arrangements for our two teams, we are here to request the use of the courts tomorrow and one of your courts today. You have already held your ranking tournament and we have yet to do so. I assure you, it won't take long. We have only thirty-two members, including our regulars and most will not last long in a match against a former regular." Umi stated promptly.

Tezuka shared a look with Oishi who shrugged in reply. If there wer to compete together the girls had to hold their ranking tournament.

"Of course. Will you have need of assistan-"

"No thank you." Umi cut across Tezuka sharply.

Umi and Kami both seemed fond of cutting others off before they could finish what they were saying. While Umi spoke to Tezuka, Kame was scanning the courts, one hand propped on her narrow hip.

"We do not require nor want any assistance from anyone. It is far easier that way. Just the use of the courts is fine." she added.

It wasn't out right hostility but it was icy enough to come awfully close to it and it got the point across quite clearly. They wanted nothing from the boys.

"Of course you're welcome to use them." Tezuka assured her. "Good. Coach Ryuzaki has also asked that I pass on this paper work to you and asked me to inform you that you and I have some forms we must go over together for the upcoming tournament. It should not take us long if you would like to meet after practice." Umi said holding out a folder to Tezuka.

Tezuka took the folder from her, opening it and pulling out papers to look over them quickly. He nodded, slipping the paper back into it and closing the folder.

"That would perfect. After practice then." Tezuka told her, Umi nodding.

"Umi."

Umi turned to Kame as the shorter girl held out her left wrist to show Umi the watch there. Umi leaned over to look at the time and gave her vice-captain a nod. "If you'll excuse us, we have a meeting with our members to inform them of the new arrangements. We shall take Court D. I will warn you to keep a distance from the court. My team is likely to not be too pleased." Umi said.

Tezuka nod in acknowledgement of her warning. The boys would give the girls the space they wanted for today. After that, they would have to start acting like a team and that meant getting along with each other. Umi gave a curt nod before turning on her heel.

"Come Kame." she called to her friend who followed without so much as a backwards glance at the boys.

When they were gone the boys finally spoke, whispers breaking out all over the courts.

"Okay...anyone else feel the temperature drop?" Momo asked.

All eyes flickered to Momo. No one said a word but they all agreed that when the girls had arrived things had definitely gotten icy. For the next two months that was probably going to be the norm for the tennis club, both male and female.

END

Kyandi: Girl hate, boy am I familiar with that.

Umi: Well of course...you are a girl.

Kyandi: Oh boy am I.

Ranari: Well no one likes being constantly compared to others.

Kyandi: I'm familiar with that too.

Umi: Should we move on?

Kyandi: Right! Everyone review and enjoy.

Ranari: We'll be back soon.

Umi: Good bye.


	2. Standing Out From The Rest

Kyandi: Howdy hey, howdy do!

Kame: Not everyone is American here, Kyandi-sama.

Kyandi: They should still know I mean hi. Anyway, for this chapter my OCs Okuyona Kame and Hariken Safaia will be helping me!

Safaia: Hey, glorious people I do not know!

Kame: Inside voice, Safaia.

Safaia: Whoops! Right, sorry!

Kyandi: Anyway, since I already had the second chapter typed up, I decided I would put it up.

Kame: And thus, here we are.

Kyandi: Right, so everyone enjoy and review.

Safaia: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis!

Chapter 2 Standing Out From The Rest

"She wasn't kidding! There really is only thirty-two of them!"

Many of the boys looked around as girls, most of which wore icy, hateful expressions, hurried past them, getting their court assignments. Most of the girls were second years and first years thought there was the rare third year mixed in. Most of the third years had quit the year before after their captain and coach had quit. Eiji sat out of the way on a low wall with Oishi, Momo, Fuji, Ryoma, and Kaido.

"Well then their ranking matches really shouldn't take that long." Oishi remarked.

All six boys looked up as Inui and Taka joined them, Inui adjusting his bent glasses and supporting a bruised nose.

"What happened to your glasses and your nose, Inui?" Eiji asked.

"He offered to help the girls by gathering data and a third and second year shot him down. The second year slammed his notebook into his face." Taka replied.

Eiji and Momo winced. It sounded like it hurt.

"They're fine." Inui said, pushing the glasses up his nose.

"I'm so, so sorry!"

All of the boys turned to the girl standing behind Taka and Inui, hands clasped over her mouth as she looked like she was about to cry. Taka turned a little pink at the sight of the girl standing there, instantly holding up his hands to try to calm her before she really did cry.

This girl was petite, thin, and of medium height. Her sun bleached, blonde hair feel to her waist in golden waves. At the moment it was tied back with a bright red ribbon. Her face was slim with an easy smile, a dimple in the left cheek, and eyes just as gold as her hair. There was a short, red scarf tied around her neck and she wore the regulars uniform with the jersey sleeves hanging a little longer and falling past the tips of her fingers. She gave them all a bright smile with none of the icy glares that most of the girls had been giving them.

"I'm so sorry about what happened! Inari really has a hard time getting along with others and her temper can be so explosive. I'm sure she didn't mean to cause any damage!" the girl said, waving her hands frantically as she leaned forward to look at Inui's glasses and nose.

"Chi-Chi should have stopped her. I'm so sorry!" she added, sucking in her bottom lip to chew on it.

"Its fine. They're simple enough to replace." Inui assured her.

The girl smiled brightly, her cheeks going a bit red.

"Good...um...I-I'm Sensaina Hana. T-third year!" she told them giving them a hasty bow and accidentally knocking over a rolling basket of balls that had been standing just behind her.

"Ah! Sorry! So, so sorry! I didn't meant to! Oh gods I'm a clutz!" she said quickly, bending to help the boys pick up the balls, apologizing the whole time.

"Its alright, really. It was an accident." Oishi assured her as they all fished the balls back into the basket.

"I can be such a clutz sometimes." Hana told them as she stood, righting the basket.

She smiled at Taka as he handed her the last ball.

"Some people are naturally clumsy." Taka said rubbing the back of his neck as he blushed.

Hana smiled back at him, her cheeks coloring a light red. She sheepishly twisted her hands together.

"_**Hana**_!"

Hana flinched and turned to where Umi stood, arms crossed. Hana wilted under the fierce look of her captain.

"Your first match is about to began. Unless you want to hand your spot over to Nigashi, you best hurry it up." Umi said. Hana nodded.

"Excuse me." Hana told the boys and hurried off, her captain throwing one last look at the boys before turning to follow.

She didn't so much as spare Tezuka a glance as he passed her. Tezuka turned to watch the two leave. He turned back to his teammates.

"The matches are about to start. Coach Ryuzaki wants us to watch." Tezuka told them.

The boys, happy to see what they would be working with, nodded. The boys split up between the four courts. Eiji, Momo, and Ryoma headed off for Court D where a second year was about to take on a third year. Fuji and Taka followed the same path Hana had taken, to Court B where she was taking on a second year. Inui and Kaido took Court C where the same second year who had assaulted Inui was due to battle another second year. This left Tezuka and Oishi to head to Court A where a first year was preparing to face a third year.

-0-0-0-0-

"Wow!"

Eiji could have sworn Momo's jaw hit the ground. The younger boy, mouth hanging open and eyes wide, was watching the match with awe. The Court D match was going by pretty fast with the second, Uiru Komiri, dominating the pace and score. Her opponent and upperclassmen, stood no chance against the quick and tireless, uniformly good pace of the second year who kept her opponent pinned to the baseline, relying on the older girl's misses and hitting shots with good depths. The whole time she had a smile on her face.

Uiru Komiri was a tall, willowy girl, one of the tallest in the girls' club. Her long, orange-red hair was pulled into a bun that was shoved under a baggy hat. Her face was slim, like her body, with an easy, infectious smile, and beautifully bright, sapphire blue eyes. There was a dimple in each cheek and a pair of large, purple, over-the-head headphones hung around her neck. She obviously had been a regular the year before, for she wore the jersey open over a dark purple tank top with tears and safety pins in it.

Not exactly uniform but neither were the headphones.

"It seems this match is going by quickly too."

Eiji, Momo, and Ryoma turned to find Taka and Fuji coming towards them.

"Court B's match is already over?" Momo asked. The two third years nodded.

"Hana-chan demolished her opponent with a match of 6-0." Fuji replied.

"This girl, Uiru Komiri, is doing the same so far." Eiji said, gesturing to the court.

"That's because Komiri was a regular after the third years quit last year."

Hana appeared then, peering onto the court as she took a drink from her water bottle.

"Miwasagi is a good player, strong in the basics, but she always loses to Komiri. She just doesn't have the accuracy to punch through Komiri's play style." Hana added.

"She certainly is good. Uiru that is." Momo remarked as the final score was called, 6-0 in Komiri's favor.

"Of course, she is! Umi recruited her to Seigaku back in middle school with the intention of her being a regular. She wouldn't have gone through the trouble if Komiri wasn't one of the best." Hana replied. She turned to the boys and grinned.

"This ranking tournament really is just kind of for show. Just watch. Umi already knows who will be our regulars because the difference between them and the rest of our club members is painfully obvious." she told them before taking off to congratulate Komiri, who grinned and flicked the brim of her hate back to talk to the other girl.

The five boys looked at each other. Just for show...a show for who?

-0-0-0-0-

The match on Court A was over before Tezuka and Oishi arrived, the first year walking away with a solid win of 6-0. So they moved to Court C where they found the rest of their teammates watching an aggressive looking second year wear her opponent down by steady running her from side to side while barely having to do much work herself. She almost looked bored with the process and had a good store of stamina herself. Maybe not as good as Kaido's but certainly better then her current opponent who looked like she was ready to pass out where she stood.

"Who's this?" Oishi asked.

"Anju Inari, second year. She's the one that hit Inui." Eiji replied.

Oishi and Tezuka turned back to watch the match.

The girl, Inari, was a somewhat pale and thin girl with a orange and yellow, flamed designed bandana tied around her neck like the robbers in old western, cowboy movies. Her mid-back length hair was a maroon color, the end cut in a duck tail. At the moment she was using a grin clip to hold it back out of her face. Her face was narrow but pretty, despite the scowl firmly etched there, with high and sharp cheekbones that gave her features a rather sharp look. The sharp look was softened by slightly larger eyes of a vibrant, candy apple green. When she shoved a piece of loose hair behind her ear, it drew the eye to a row of four piercings in each ear.

"She'll be done soon. It seem she had no competition." Fuji said.

"Neither did the first winners from Courts B and D." Momo said.

"Court A's first winner was done before Tezuka and I even got there." Oishi told them.

None of the boys seemed surprised after what they had seen so far. Especially not after Hana's remark.

"Hana-chan told us that this ranking tournament is just for show and that they pretty much already know who will win." Fuji said.

Tezuka looked out on the court, as the game was called 6-0 in Inari's favor, like all of the previous matches before it. There was a clear difference between certain members of the girls' club.

"Who's next?" Fuji asked.

"On Court A its Umi verse Tokimasu Risa, Court B is Okuyona Kame verse Uratage Mamori, Court C is Kagayakashi Chisei verse Senkaryuu Ino, and Court D is Hariken Safaia verse Dakutane Asari." Inui said reading off the small court line-up he had in hand.

"Well its clear Umi-chan and Kame-chan will win. They are the captain and vice-captain." Fuji said with a smile.

"Kagayakashi and Hariken are former regulars. Have been since they were second years." Inui added.

"You think they will win?" Oishi asked Inui, turning towards the taller boy.

"There is a ninety-nine percent chance that they will, indeed win." Inui replied.

-0-0-0-0-

Inui turned out to be exactly right. With the first round of matches over, there was only sixteen girls left. Tezuka had firmly situated himself between Court A and Court C with Oishi and Fuji at his side. The first match they watched was a match between a third year and Inari. Though Inari won, securing her spot as a regular, Umi came down hard on the girl for her lack of drive in the match. She didn't raised her voice but she did assign the girl punishment in the form of laps and wall sits, despite the fact that Inari had just finished a match.

"Isn't she being a little hard?" Eiji asked.

The red head had just joined his friends after watching Komiri take her final win to secure her regular's spot.

"Not at all."

The small voice made the boys turn. There, standing beside the, staring out on the court, watching Umi scold Inari, was a young first year girl. It was the same first year that Tezuka and Oishi had seen leaving Court A when they had failed to reach the court before the end of the match. Unlike the other girls who wore school issued white polo shirts and mint green or royal blue skorts, this girl wore a beige and grey wind breaker over a black skirt with white sliders underneath.

She was a small, delicate looking, curvy girl who had an almost fragile look to her. Her hair, which was a bright strawberry blonde bearing a single strand of purple on the left, was tied back loosely at the nap of her neck and fell about to mid-back length in soft, full ringlets. Her features were soft, her figure curvy, and she had big, half lidded eyes of a pale lilac purple. Each ear was double pierced and she wore a silver ring with a heart shaped sapphire set in it, around her neck on a silver chain. She had a somewhat distant look on her face as she watched her captain scold her sempai.

"What do you mean, "not at all"?" Eiji asked.

The girl's eyebrows perked up as if she just realized she had said something out loud.

"Huh? Oh! I said that out loud, didn't I?" she questioned, still staring forward.

"Yeah...you did." Eiji said.

"Huh...oh well. Mistakes happen. It seems I do that quite a bit actually." she said before turning to the boys, her eyes staring at them though the boys felt like she wasn't seeing them at all.

"Its not harsh because Umi knows what she needs and wants in a team. If Inari-sempai isn't going to take it serious, even in a match she knows she'll win, then that isn't the kind of attitude and spirit Umi wants. Umi wants people who will be driven to keep going even when it seems hopeless. That means having the drive even in a match that is a sure win. If she doesn't have the drive to play seriously now, then she won't have the drive to keep going then and our team will be done for." she told them.

The boys stared at her as she turned back to the court. She certainly had a point, that was for sure. A team was done if it had members who gave up when the going got tough. Just like most of the girls had done the year before. It made sense to the boys and made Tezuka, as a fellow captain, respect Umi.

"Hey, who are y-"

Eiji was cut off as Umi turned to find the girl talking to them.

"Ranari! Report to Court A! Your match is about to start!" Umi ordered.

The girl saluted her captain in a rather mocking manner, her back going straight in the mocking posture of a solider.

"Aye, aye moi catiton!" she said.

This made one corner of Umi's mouth pull down as a tick mark appeared on her forehead. The girl ignored it as she turned to the boys.

"Mentaru. My name is Mentaru Ranari." she told them before turning and waving over her shoulder.

"Have fun watching." she called before she headed off towards the court, humming and making clicking noises with her tongue as she walked.

Ryoma and Momo were standing at Court A when Ranari passed them. On the court side, Ranari's opponent, fellow first year, Sakuno, was waiting nervously. Ranari walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, Sakuno. You won your first math and you're doing great. Just calm down and breathe." Ranari told her.

Sakuno gave her a smile and nodded, though she still looked nervous. Ranari pat her shoulder before heading for her end of the court. Tezuka, Oishi, Fuji, and Eiji had joined Ryoma and Momo and were watching as Sakuno served. The young Ryuzaki had improved considerably since she had joined the tennis club in middle school and had become a very potential choice for a regular, but her nervousness made her serve sloppy and therefore easy for Ranari to pick up.

Ranari, like a streak of fire, shot from her back court to catch the ball just seconds after it hit the ground. The return shot past Sakuno who squeaked when it hit the court just behind her.

"As I said, Sakuno, calm down. Just focus. You can do it if you just focus." Ranari called in support to her opponent.

Sakuno nodded and tried again, taking a deep breath before she served. Each serve was returned but with the reassuring words from Ranari, she soon gained enough confidence to engage the other first year head on. The whole time Ranari called encouragement to her.

"Shouldn't she be more concerned with winning then encouraging her own opponent to out do her?" Momo asked.

"That's not Ranari." Hana stepped up beside the boys and smiled.

"Ranari is a somewhat complex person. There's usually no telling what she'll do, but there is one thing we all know for sure about her. She's supportive of her teammates and friends. She's confident enough in her own abilities and skills that she feels she can afford to encourage her opponents to do their very best. Of course that's only if her opponent is a teammates. Else wise, you're done for. No mercy." Hana told them with a shrug of the shoulders.

"She knows Sakuno-chan can be better and she's trying to pull that out of her. Make it a learning experience without tearing down her confidence in the process." she added.

On court Sakuno backed up to catch the shot to her left corner that Ranari was obviously about to make. At the last second Ranari lowered her racket head and lightly bumped the ball, making it fall just on the other side of the net. Sakuno shot forward, catching the ball even though she was awkward in doing so.

"Ranari will win, but she'll make it a learning experience for Sakuno-chan. See, Sakuno-chan is already improving as we speak." Hana said, pointing out how Sakuno corrected a mistake she made and didn't make it again.

She was indeed improving and with Ranari calling encouragement and even correcting her mistakes as they played, Sakuno soon started stealing points from Ranari. First one here, then another.

The boys silently watched the rest of the match, noticing the definite Counter Puncher style that Sakuno had adopted over the years. In her quest to improve and be like Ryoma she had indeed grown stronger and managed to, eventually, steal two games from Ranari who was obviously the superior player. And as the match went on Sakuno gained confidence enough to not trip over herself as she played. Ranari on the other hand relied on technique rather then power or tricks. She aimed for Sakuno's weak points to make the girl address them and attempt to correct them.

"Mentaru is an All Rounder?" Tezuka asked Hana.

Hana looked up in surprise that quickly turned to worry and concern, her eyes shooting to Ranari who wasn't paying attention as she played.

"If she hears you call her Mentaru, you are going to have hell fire raining down on your heels." Hana replied making the boys look at her.

"She _**hates**_ being called by her surname." Hana explained.

Hana pointed to the fiery haired first year on the court.

"Ranari's a little fiend if angered. Hard to control and will only take orders from one person. You boys are already going to have a hard time with some of the girls, like Inari. Do yourself a favor and don't add Ranari to it. She's pretty passive if you fly below her radar. Once you're on it...lets just say you want to fly below the radar. And calling her that is one way to place yourself there." Hana told them.

"Personal experience?" Fuji asked, intrigued. Hana shook her head rapidly.

"Oh no! I've never been a bleep on that radar. Ranari actually likes me. Safaia and Komiri have though. It wasn't pretty." the girl replied.

"But to answer the question, Ranari sort of is an All Rounder, but also sort of isn't." she added.

"Sort of?" Oishi asked.

"Well as you know most players are classified as Counter Punchers, like Sakuno and Kame, All Rounders, like Umi, Serve and Volley, like Chi-Chi and Faia, and Aggressive Baseliners. That's typically. Truth is there are more. Baseliners for insistence are divided into five sub categories; Aggressive, Blasters, Machine, Soft Baller, and Retriever." Hana started to explain.

"Aggressive Baseliners are pretty self explanatory. Blasters are Baseliners who focus on the corners and have typically big serves and big fore hands. We don't have any Blasters that I'm aware of. Machine Baseliners are steady players. They focus on running their opponents side to side and have machine-like stamina. Inari is a Machine Baseliners. Soft Ballers have excellent footwork and absorb power and redirect it with good, deep placements. They exhaust their opponents both physically and mentally. I'm a Soft Baller!" Hana said, saying the last part with pride.

"Then Retriever Baseliners are quick and tireless. They rely on misses and keep their opponents pinned to the baseline with good depth and uniformly good pace." she added.

"Like Uiru Komiri." Momo suggested.

"Exactly! Aside from that there is another form called Junk Ball. They're a bit more rare." Hana explained.

"Yeah, Junk Ballers can drive the "purist" among us into the nut house."

Hana turned to show Komiri, who was peering at the group from under the brim of her hat.

"That's not nice, Koko." Hana replied.

"Its true though. They never let you get into your rhythm, their shots always vary in height, depth, angle, and quanity of spin, and their typically the quickest." Komiri complained, throwing one hand into the air before it returned to it's place on her hip.

"That's true." Hana muttered before turning to the boys.

"But Junk Ballers in general are divided into two sub divisions; Spin Doctors and Chop Shots. Chop Shots are masters of the Chop Slice and rarely hit anything else. They work the wind and its really hard to run them. They can usually hold their ground pretty well. Spin Doctors though are the ones to worry about. They know every trick in the book and out of it to keep their opponent off balanced, wrong footed, and clumsy. Master manipulators of spin." Hana explained.

"They're hell on Serve and Volley players and Baseliners and are a royal pain in the ass!" Komiri retorted.

"And how does she fit into that?" Ryoma asked, gesturing at Ranari.

"Ranari is a blend of All Rounder and Junk Baller." Komiri said in a bored tone.

"Which one?" Fuji asked.

"Spin Doctor." the two girls coursed.

The two looked at each other and smiled but then the bland expression was back on Komiri's face.

"Why are you even talking to them, Hana-sempai?" she asked, jabbing a thumb in the boys' direction.

"Just let them go ask Ranari themselves." she added turning away and walking off. Hana frantically turned to the boys.

"Oh no! Don't do that! If Ranari knew you were curious in any way that would land you smack dab in the center of her radar! She'd annoy you none stop about it!" Hana said, waving her hands and shaking her head.

"Just ignore Koko's comment." she insisted.

"All of the other girls seem to have a problem with us. Whey don't you?" Momo asked. Hana blinked, surprised and confusion clear on her face.

"Huh? They don't have any issues with you." she replied.

"All they've done is glare at us and I'm pretty sure your captain hates us!" Eiji whined. At this point Hana laughed.

"That's just pride!" she exclaimed.

Seeing the confused looks on some of their faces, Hana smiled.

"For so long we've been compared to you boys. Now we're being told we have to work with you and win, or lose our club completely. Its just pride. No girl wants to admit they need a man's help." Hana told them.

Then, realizing what she had said, she turned red.

"Wh-what I mean is that Umi and the others are just trying to focus on getting our best players so we can win and keep our team. Yeah a lot of the girls are annoyed with the...taunting some of the boys do, but who wouldn't be?" Hana added, rubbing one arm.

"You'll find a lot of the girls here, who are truly serious about the team, won't want to have a single thing to do with you, but for the most part its just because they know they have to put their full attention into the team. Its not that they hate you." she added with a reassuring smile.

"No it's because they're hated."

Hana jumped a good four feet into the air, emitting a loud squeak when Ranari appeared just behind her, seemingly out of thin air.

"Ranari, don't do that! Don't you make any noise!?" Hana exclaimed, turning to the first year who had a small grin on her face.

"Do you always have to just appear like that!? It scares the daylights out of me!" Hana added.

"Yes...yes I do." was the short, blunt, to the point reply that came from Ranari.

It clearly amused her to see her sempai's surprised reaction to her sudden appearance.

"That's not nice! And what you said isn't either!" the blonde girl scolded her kouhai. Ranari tilted her head to the side.

"The truth isn't nice, sempai. Most of the girls do hate them because they believe its the boys' fault that they were shown up. Its childish really since the only ones to blame are those who didn't work hard enough to win their matches. No fault of the male team at all. Childish. And this is coming from the youngest member of the club. Shame."

With that Ranari stretched, much like a cat would, twisting her body until they all heard the series of cracking that announced the popping of her spine. With a sigh, Ranari eased herself off her toes. A few more stretches produced a few more pops and cracks from her joints.

"Anyway, they're hated for sure, but its not really their fault. Girls hold grudges whether it's logical or not." Ranari remarked. Hana deflated.

"Ranari, you're being rude." Hana told her. Ranari blinked, her expression one of surprise.

"If being honest is being rude, then I don't want to be polite. And besides...I'm not as blunt as Chisei-sempai." Ranari replied.

Just then a sound caught the first year's attention. She turned her head as she listened and the others turned in the same direction to find Umi who was storming their way.

"And _**that**_ is my cue to beat it." Ranari said turning and taking off.

"Ranari!" Umi called as she finally reached Hana and the boys. Ranari turned to run backwards.

"Sorry Umi, no time to chat! I have to report my win now! Catch you on the fly!" Ranari called, turning her back on Umi and beating a hasty retreat.

The girl was gone from sight in the matter of seconds. Umi shook her head and heaved a sigh.

"That girl gives me a headache." Umi remarked, rubbing at both of her temples.

"You were the one that recruited her to attend school here." Hana offered, giving Umi a sheepish smile when Umi turned an un-amused look on her.

She simply eyed the sheepish girl before turning on the boys.

"Ryuzaki-sensei is looking for you." she told Tezuka before turning to Hana.

"Your match is about to begin." she told the other girl.

"On my way." Hana replied, taking off without another word.

Umi gave the boy a passing bow of the head and carried on, catching Sakuno as the girl left the courts, head hung. The older girl stopped Sakuno and after a few words, the two walked off together.

"It seems every time we start to talk to the girls, she shows up and has them running off in every direction." Momo remarked.

"Umi-chan is scary, nya~!" Eiji whined.

Tezuka left the group at this point to see what Ryuzaki wanted from him, not bothering to offer his opinion on the female captain. The others joined Inui and Kaido who were watching a match between a former regular, third year Kagayakashi Chisei, and a second year. It was actually a sad display. The second year obviously hadn't much practice in an actual match and the third year was running her all over the court.

"Has it been this way the whole time?" Oishi asked.

"Yeah." Kaido replied, his trade mark hiss following the word.

Kagayakashi Chisei, or they had heard her affectionately called, Chi-chi, was a very curvy girl of slightly above average height. Her midnight black hair, with tones of blue and purple, fell to a curled tip at her thin shoulders. She had a slightly rounded face with a small nose, pouty lips and eyes of a pink-purple ringed by thick, long lashes. She had a pair of small, oval shaped glasses perched dangerously on the tip of her nose and the boys could swear there was a small, pocket-sized book in her jersey pocket, that smacked her hip when ever she moved.

"She's got a good grasp on her opponent, it seems." Oishi remarked.

It was true, Chisei seemed to know what kind of shot and to where her opponent would hit it. She was able to line up a return before the poor second year was ready. Chisei was out-right destroying her opponent, ruthlessly attacking all her faults and weak points. If she saw a chance to conserve stamina and energy, she did, even if that meant hitting the same, boring shots over and over. It made her predictable, but it also saw to it that she lasted much longer then her opponent did. In the end that was what won Chisei the match.

"Game, set, and match, Kagayakashi, 6-0!"

The two girls shook hands and, muttering to herself, Chisei left the court. She continued her muttering as she passed the boys, her eyes narrowed and her brows creased in a thoughtful look as she drummed her fingers on her chin.

"...should of shot to the right, but she went left. Mindlessly playing how she feels and ignoring the fact that she would run her stamina down that way..." came her low muttering as she walked by.

She didn't spare anyone a look and was wrapped up in her own thoughts up until someone came barreling out of the watching crowd, to fling her arms around Chisei's neck.

"Chi-chi! That was great!" the new girl cried cheerfully.

Chisei blinked in surprise before she fixed her gaze on the new girl, hanging from her neck.

"Of course it was, Faia. Do you expect anything less from me?" Chisei said, her words carrying a slight Chugoku accent.

The boys instead, focused in on the second girl.

Third year, Hariken Safaia, known simply as Faia, was a sprite of a girl who looked like she should be fluttering around on clear, glittering fairy wings, sprinkling dust on the heads of little children who wanted to fly. Her long, curly, pale blue hair was tied into two long pigtails that flew out behind her, her bangs puffing out over her forehead with a tiny twist at the end. She had childish facial features with big blue-grey eyes and eyelashes and eyebrows the same pale blue as her hair. She wore her jersey tied around her tiny waist and had bracelets of every color of the rainbow, littering her wrist. Even the socks peeking out of her sneakers were brightly colored, striped and polka-dotted, and mismatched.

The girl, despite being seventeen, was all bright colors, big smiles, and in infectiously cheerful spirits. She hopped on both feet, shaking jiggling Chisei who frowned and was forced to adjust her glasses back onto their dangerous perch.

When finally Safaia released Chisei, she hopped in place for a moment, clearly over excited.

"Guess, what, guess what, guess what!?" she cheered. Chisei dusted off her clothes causally.

"You won your second match and kept your previously obtained regular's spot." Chisei said, bluntly, tilting her chin back to look at the shorter girl through her glasses. Safaia pouted, her bottom lip poking out.

"Chi-chi! I wanted to tell you! It's no fun if you just state it like that!" she complained.

"As if it wasn't bluntly obvious. The chances of the successive failure of any of our previous regulars are less then likely." Chisei replied.

By this point Safaia turned from her friend, arms crossed and spotted the boys.

"Oh my gods! He's soooo cute~!" Safaia exclaimed before launching herself forward.

Taken off guard, none of the boys expected Safaia to wrap her arms around Ryoma and pet his head.

"So cute~!" she cheered as she danced on the spot, dragging Ryoma with her.

"Sempai!" Ryoma croaked out.

"Faia! Put him down before you choke him!" Kame appeared then.

She grabbed the other girl by the back of her shirt, yanking her up short. Safaia looked down at Ryoma and loosened her grip but didn't release him.

"Sorry, little cutie. Sometimes I get carried away when I see something cute." Safaia said.

Kame heaved a sigh of relief as the other girl rubbed one cheek against Ryoma's head. Ryoma wanted to scoot away from the girls, but Safaia held her in place. Though he tried to hide it, he had a tiny hint of red to his cheeks. Probably left over effects from having his air way blocked. Kame shook her head as she look at Safaia. She tried to pull the girl away from Ryoma but the other girl refused to release him.

"Faia...he's a boys' regular." Kame told her.

Safaia's blue-grey eyes went wide and she suddenly pushed Ryoma away from her, her bottom lip poking out one more in a pout/frown

"Cuteness lost." Safaia declared and turned on her heel to walk away.

Kame released her and let her go about her way.

"Talk about serious mood swings." Momo said lowly. Kame turned a disapproving look on Momo.

"Exactly why do you girls hate us?" Momo asked. Kame crossed her arms with a huff.

"As if you don't know." she replied.

"We don't! We haven't done anything to you girls!" Momo replied, his teammates nodding their agreement. Kame eyed each boy.

"Try talking to your non-regulars then. A couple of your third years landed Komiri with a visit to the emergency room." Kame retorted. With that, she turned on her heel and followed her teammates.

Talk about leaving after dropping a bomb.

END

Kyandi: Da, da, dom~!

Kame: So childish. How old are you again?

Kyandi: Not telling! I'm old enough, leave it at that.

Safaia: It's a shame though. He was so cute!

Kyandi: Aw, poor you.

Kame: Shall we move on then?

Kyandi: Right! Everyone enjoy and review!

Kame: We'll be back soon.

Safaia: Bye, bye!


	3. Clearing The Air

Kyandi: Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken us so long! I'm really busy during the summer and my work load only just now lightened up.

Umi: But we have returned.

Safaia: And we have a few chapters for you!

Kyandi: Right! So let's just cut to the chase and get to it! Komiri, Inari!

Komiri: Please enjoy and review!

Inari: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis.

Ranari: But she does own us.

Chapter 3 Clearing The Air

The rest of the matches passed without any more major conflict. The boys reported back to Tezuka what Kame had told them. Tezuka hadn't been happy in the least to learn that anyone in his club had caused injury to anyone, let alone a girl. That being said, he held off saying anything to Umi, who was more then likely going to tell him off and tell him to mind his own business.

Tezuka was prepared for that.

As far as he was concerned, since it involved one of his club members as well, as the captain it was his business too. The tricky part would be getting Shinkoku Umi, the headstrong and do-it-herself captain of the girls' team, to see his point.

"Girls, line up!" Umi's voice, though not raised in a yell, carried over the courts in a way that would have made a military commander proud.

Every single girl scrambled to line up as told.

"Good work, girls. You all did a good job but as always, we only have eight regulars." Umi called over the girls, Kame standing at her shoulder.

"Of course as captain there is me and vice-captain, Okuyona Kame." Umi said, half turning to Kame who smiled.

"Joining us is third year, Kagayakashi Chisei."

Chisei stepped forward, a smile on her face.

"Third year, Sensaina Hana."

Hana stepped up beside Chisei, sheepishly smiling at the other third year who gave her a firm, approving nod.

"Third year, Hariken Safaia."

With a cheer, Safaia, literally, bounced over the head of a first year and joined the other two, the first year girl ducking with a squeak to avoid behind kicked in the head. She bounced in place, a wide grin on her face.

"Second year, Uiru Komiri."

The hat wearing second year was welcomed forward with cheers from friends. She was clearly well liked by all, most of the girls giving her high fives and whistles and cheers.

"Second year, Anju Inari."

Girls stepped aside to let the maroon haired girl through, all of them respectfully cheering for her, most of the first years looking at her with awe. One girl clapped Inari's shoulder in congratulations, making her blush and mutter to herself as she came to stand beside a beaming Komiri, who gave her a playful nudge and tweaked her nose. Inari frowned but didn't scold her.

"And first year, Mentaru Ranari."

Several girls turned and moved to make room for Ranari, who joined the other regulars, many girls offering her gentle claps on the back. None of them hit her too hard, as if they feared breaking the delicate looking girl. Umi turned her eyes to Ranari for a moment before speaking again.

"And, in case of emergencies in which we would have to replace a regular in our line-up, on the suggestion of one of our regulars, I have chosen a replacement, a spare if you will." Umi announced.

Excited whispers were hushed with a sharp whistle sounding from Kame.

"First year, Ryuzaki Sakuno." Umi called, an "epp" of surprise following.

Every girl, regulars included, save for Ranari, turned to stare at the first year in surprise. That told Tezuka and Fuji, who were watching from the sidelines, exactly who had suggested the young Ryuzaki for the position and the grin that curved Ranari's full lips only confirmed it all the more. Umi silenced the whispers with one sharp look.

"As many of you know, this year we will be competing in a tournament along side the boys' team." Umi said.

Several dark looks were shot Tezuka's and Fuji's way, none darker then the one supported by Inari, who drew ever closer to Komiri's side.

"This means, despite past issues and grievances, we will be practicing with them and **we will all get along**. Do I make myself clear?" Umi asked.

"Yes buchou!" rang out over the girls.

"No."

Umi turned on Ranari like a hound dog on the trail of an injured fox, like a predator on it's prey. Every girl close to Ranari instantly put fifteen feet between them and Ranari. Ranari though was unfazed and continued to stare ahead.

"Do you have something to say, Ranari?" Umi asked, icily, not happy with having her authority questioned so boldly.

"Actually yes, I do. I honestly don't get what all of your issues with the boys are. I mean who cares what they have to say?" Ranari pointed out, getting disapproving looks from the other which she pretended not to see.

"If the boys want to talk then let them. They're just running off at the mouth and we know this year we can prove them wrong. After all, you, yourself, recruited every regular on this team back in middle school. We're proven winners." Ranari added.

Umi crossed her arms but didn't try to stop Ranari.

"So your point is?" Umi asked.

"My point is that when you say we'll all get along, I can't say I understand since, for one, I have no issues with the boys, for two, everyone here who dislikes them and says they'll get along, are liars, including yourself, and for three, how can you expect us to get along when the boys aren't promising to play nice either. As far as I see it, its a valid argument and if they don't play nice, why the hell should we. An eye for an eye. That's what my mother taught me." Ranari replied with a shrug.

Whispers broke out among the girls, many complaining about being called a liar, others complaining that Ranari was being too passive about this, and all of them agreeing with her about the boys playing nice.

Ranari, of course, had a very valid point. Fuji couldn't help thinking that some day the girl would make a very good politian or lawyer. She certainly had that "undermining authority" thing down path. Umi and Kame turned to each other sharing a look. Then Umi turned back and cleared her throat. All of the girls fell silent.

"Ranari has a point. Tezuka-kun!" Umi called.

Tezuka, surprised at suddenly being called, raised his head. Umi turned to him, arms crossed, as if waiting for him to join her. From the frying pan and into the fire. Fuji nudged Tezuka who didn't need to be told twice. Umi might snap if she had to blantly tell him to join her. All eyes burned into him as he stepped onto the court and came to a stop at Umi's side.

"My team has a good point. If we're to work together we need your word that the boys are going to try as well. Else wise I can not guarantee that the girls will, as Ranari put it, play nice." Umi told him.

Tezuka's eyes scanned the girls who were looking at him with mixed looks of hatred, annoyance, curiosity, worry in the case of Hana, and amusement in the case of Ranari. Tezuka had a feeling, looking at the smile on Ranari's face, that the girl was going to be a problem. But rather that problem was going to be his or Umi's was yet to be revealed. Tezuka turned back to Umi who was waiting.

"Well Tezuka-kun?" she asked.

"You have my word that my team will be on their best behavior." he told her.

Umi eyed the stoic boy before her, her sharp orange eyes scanning his face.

"I'll hold you to that, Tezuka-kun. One slip up from either side could spell chaos for us." she told him before turning to her team.

"You heard him, girls." Umi told her team.

"But,"

Umi froze when Tezuka spoke again. She turned to him, then.

"But what?" Umi asked.

"There are things we must discuss. The clear lack of respect to authority in your youngest regular being first and foremost." Tezuka replied.

There was a collective groan from the entire mass of the girls' club. Even Umi gave a small groan and slapped a hand to her face. Ranari's expression betrayed surprise before a smile tilted her lips up. Tezuka was slightly confused about the reaction.

"You just planted yourself, smack dab in the middle of a Ranari-makes-your-day-a-living-hell radar. You, dear Tezuka-kun, are doing down in smoke and gore." Chisei said bluntly from where she stood.

"Chisei!"

Every regular in line, save Ranari, turned on Chisei, shushing the horribly blunt girl. Tezuka eyed the girls before turning back to Umi who still had one hand slapped over her face.

"Shinkoku?" he asked.

Umi heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"I have a feeling I know what you want to discuss. Just ignore Chisei. She lacks a proper filter between her brain and mouth." Umi told him as she dropped the hand to her side.

"As for Ranari..."

Umi turned to Ranari who grinned.

"Ranari, I don't believe I have to tell you that you aren't allow to smite him." Umi said.

Ranari raised a hand to her forehead and saluted Umi in the same mocking gesture she had earlier that day.

"Right! No killing. Got it." she said.

Umi frowned at the girl's wording.

"No maiming either." Umi insisted.

Ranari cocked a hip then, planting her hands on her hips as she tilted her head to the side.

"Well aren't you tying my hands behind my back." Ranari retorted.

Umi turned fully to Ranari.

"Mentaru Ranari!" she hissed.

The playful smile on Ranari's face faltered for a fraction of a second, then it was back in full force.

"Does that include mental or emotional maiming?" she asked.

Umi shared a look of long time suffering with Kame, who simply shrugged in reply.

"Yes Ranari. We don't need you breaking him or any of the boys for that matter. Think of your team instead of your smiting radar." Umi told her.

Tezuka and Fuji looked at each other then. From the sounds of it Ranari had a history of "breaking" people.

"Well that's no fun." Ranari remarked.

"Ranari!" Umi snapped.

"I got it, I got it. Understood." Ranari said.

Every girl heaved a sigh then as if relieved. It was almost as if they had expected a bomb to go off or something along those lines.

"Good." Umi said contently as she turned to the girls in general.

"Practice will start tomorrow morning sharp! Dismissed!" Umi declared.

All of the girls' back went straight and a chorus of "Yes ma'am!" rang out from the girls before they all dispersed. Ranari and Hana hung back with Kame while Umi turned to Tezuka, arms crossed.

"What is it you wanted to discuss?" Umi asked.

"It was brought to my attention that some of the boys' club members may have caused injury to one of your regulars." Tezuka said.

Umi's eyes widened, but quickly narrowed, going from surprised to displeased in the drop of a hat. Behind her, Kame and Hana shared a panicked look while Ranari shook her like he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

"Who told you?" Umi asked, about two seconds away from puffing up indignantly like a cat. Over Umi's head Tezuka watched a panicked, nervous look enter Kame's face while Hana waved her hands and fiercely shook her head "no". Even Ranari was silently mouthing, "Don't tell her!", from Kame's other side.

"I over heard it from one of my team members." Tezuka lied, taking the hints from the three girls.

Behind Umi, Ranari and Kame heaved silent sighs of relief while Hana gave him two overly cheerful thumbs-up. But Umi wasn't as easily pleased.

"Oh, so they were bragging about what they did to Uiru." Umi muttered, her nose wrinkling up in her anger at the mere thought.

"What did they do, Shinkoku-chan?" Fuji asked, stepping forward.

Umi's lips pursed like she wasn't going to tell them.

"We can't work together if we can't work through this." Tezuka told her logically.

Umi was broke with that. She knew that to save her team, she had to work with the boys. They couldn't work together if they couldn't work through past issues. Didn't mean she had to like it. Umi crossed her arms.

"To be perfectly honest, it was a bit of an accident, but if they hadn't shoved her, Uiru wouldn't have fallen down the stairs." Umi replied.

Both boys were shocked. No boy should lay their hands on a girl like that. Especially not with stairs around.

"Komiri was out of commission for two months while she healed from a broken shoulder blade." Kame added.

The mere thought made both boys inwardly cringe. Broken bones weren't easy to handle. Tezuka had gone throught the pain in his shoulder before. It wasn't too nice of a feeling. A broken shoulder blade had to hurt even more.

"And now?" Tezuka asked.

"Have you seen her play? She hasn't shown any lasting effects. Doctor said she made a clean, quick recovery. There are times, when the weather drastically changes, that she gets bone deep aches but nothing a few minor painkillers or heat pads can't fix." Umi replied.

Aches during weather changes from healed broken bones was another thing the boys were familiar with. Oishi still got a few in the wrist he had broken in his third year of middle school.

"Who shoved her?" Tezuka asked.

Umi named two third year, non-regulars on the boys' team that was known for out right taunting the girls. Both had received injuries from Inari when they had foolishly said something in front of her. Apparently they hadn't learned their lessons.

"I will handle it." Tezuka assured Umi.

Umi looked at her three teammates.

"You're going to give them laps, aren't you?" Umi asked.

"That is his form of punishment." Fuji agreed.

"If it works, it works." Hana said, quickly cutting off Ranari who had opened her mouth.

But Ranari didn't have to say what she had thought because Umi had the same thought and said it for her.

"That's an old man's method."

Silence stretched between the six, a grin spreading on Ranari's face as Hana covered hers with both hands.

"Shinkoku...Ten laps."

-0-0-0-0-

"Umi-chan!"

Umi managed to side step the flying body mass of Eiji, making the red head collide with Komiri and Safaia.

"Oi, get off!" Komiri said, trying to get Eiji off her back.

"Nya! Kikumaru-chan, what did you do that for!?" Safaia whined.

Somehow the small, blue haired girl had ended up on the bottom with the bigger Komiri and Eiji on top. Eiji scrambled to get off of the two.

"I'm sorry! I was trying to get Umi-chan!" Eiji told the two as Komiri helped Safaia up.

"Its alright, we're fine." Komiri told him.

"Speak for yourself, Koko-chan! You didn't have two people land on you!" Safaia complained.

"Sorry sempai, but it was an accident." Komiri replied.

Umi turned to Eiji, ignoring her two teammates as Safaia grumbled under her breath and brushed off her clothes.

"Kikumaru-kun..." she started.

"Call me, Eiji!" he instantly insisted.

Umi paused for a moment, staring at him. It was almost as if she was considering calling him as he insisted.

"Kikimaru-kun, what is it you wanted?" Umi asked.

Eiji pouted but was over it quickly. He could always convince her later on to call him by his given name.

"We're going to stop for ice cream as a treat for our two teams joining together. I came to invite y-"

Once again Eiji was cut off in mid sentence. It seemed like the girls were dead set on interrupting him. The first being Umi.

"Sorry, can't. I have a family dinner."

"Nope, I got homework." came Kame refusal.

"I got to pick up my three little siblings from the babysitter." Komiri added.

"I have...stuff." Inari grumbled.

"I just don't want to go." Chisei retorted bluntly.

"I like ice crea-ow! Sorry, can't." Safaia said, starting out cheerfully only to get an elbow in the side that had her changing it.

Hana looked at her teammates and added a quiet, "I have to pick up my baby brothers.".

Eiji turned hopeful eyes on Ranari, hoping to get at least one of the girls to agree. The girl just stood, staring off into space. That is until Komiri nudged her.

"Oh is it my turn to come up with a totally fake and completely lame reason for why I can't go?" she asked.

Komiri slapped a hand to her face.

"Let me save you all the trouble. None of them want to go and I got to get home to make dinner so Mom can eat when she gets home. At least my excuse is real." Ranari added before walking off.

The other girls groaned while Inari flexed her finger in mid air, shaking her hands in front of herself like she wanted to strangle the younger girl.

Ranari passed the other boys as they were coming to join Eiji and the girls. She gave them a wave and was gone. Eiji turned to the girls.

"Is she telling the truth?" he asked.

The girls looked at each other and, muttering to themselves, slipped past the boys without another word. Chisei was the only one who tried to say something but Inari and Kame dragged her away. Hana was the only one who stayed behind. When her teammates were gone, she turned to the boys.

"I'm sorry, really, but...they aren't ready to let go of their anger. Please don't take it personally. It will take time. If it makes you feel better, Ranari, Faia, and I actually don't have a problem with any of you. Sorry." Hana told them.

With that, she too left, racing after her friends. Eiji seemed to deflate, clearly upset that the girls disliked the idea of spending time with them so much.

"They hate us." he told his friends.

"You heard Sensaina-chan, Eiji. It'll just take time This is such a big change for everyone." Oishi told his friends as he laid a hand on Eiji's shoulder.

Eiji gave his friend a weak smile.

"I guess." he replied.

In truth, most of the boys doubted that the girls would ever like them.

END

Kyandi: No worries, folks! I have another chapter coming!

Safaia: Try three more!

Kyandi: Yep! I may not have gotten the time to post them, but I did get to write during the summer!

Kame: Then get to work posting them. You still have other stories to update.

Kyandi: Right! Girls, wrap it up.

Umi: Enjoy and review.

Hana: We will be back soon!

Chisei: Salutations.

Kame: Wrong one, Chi-chi.

Chisei: Adieu.

Kame: There you go.


	4. Misconstrue

Kyandi: See, I told you we'd be back!

Umi: And was have a new chapter for your viewing pleasure.

Ranari: Do you honestly have to sound like an old woman when talking?

Umi: Excuse you?

Kyandi: Now, now, ladies, no fighting.

Safaia: Yeah! Lets get on with the chapter!

Kyandi: Right! Chisei, Hana, if you will.

Hana: Please enjoy and review.

Chisei: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis...she's too lame.

Kyandi: HEY! That is **not** apart of your lines!

Chapter 4 Misconstrue

"Onee-chan! Inari-nee is here!"

The morning in the Uiru household was the same as always; messy with the a side of near-miss body injuries. Komiri vaulted over the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room, almost crashing into the oldest of her younger brothers, almost causing one of those near-miss injuries.

"Sorry, Toshirou!" she called to the twelve year old, who had ducked to avoid the flying tennis bag his sister was slinging around.

"Jeez, be careful, Onee-chan. At that rate you'll take out Inari-nee with that bag. You can't afford for her to break up with you. Its hard enough for you to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend." the boy, who resembled his sister from his spiky orange-red hair to his bright blue eyes, told her.

Komiri, as she always did, neither denied nor confirmed whether she was dating her teammate. She simply stuck her tongue out at her little brother. Inari stood by the front door, allowing an eight year old girl and five year old boy to climb all over her.

Inari was usually abrasive with a foul mouth and rough exterior, but she had a soft spot for children. She had a definite soft spot for Komiri's little siblings. Then again that could just be because they were **Komiri's** little siblings.

"Alright you two, off." Komiri said firmly, hands on hips.

The children looked up at their big sister and with "aww"s of disappointment, they release Inari who threw Komiri, a grateful look.

"Toshirou, Dad will be home in an hour. Wake Mom up in twenty minutes." Komiri told her brother, who was rounding up their younger siblings.

"Got it." he told her.

Komiri ruffled his hair and shoved Inari out the door. The two hopped down the stone steps and headed off for school.

"Letting your mom sleep in?" Inari asked as Komiri linked her arm through one of hers.

"Yeah. She had a late business meeting yesterday in Osaka. By the time she got home, it was after two in the morning. So I got the kids up myself." Komiri said.

Inari, who only had two older step siblings, both of which were away at university, lacked a true understanding of how a large family like Komiri's and Safaia's worked. Komiri's mother was an advertisement agent while her dad worked nights as a police officer. Usually that meant from six at night until whenever Komiri's mother got home, the four Uiru siblings were on their own.

"Well I brought you something." Inari said, changing the subject.

Komiri turned a questioning look on her. Inari dug in her bag and pulled out a small, serving size box of Coco Puffs. Komiri, who had an obsession with the American cereal since she had received her nickname, Koko-chan, in middle school, lit up.

"Oh! Gimme, gimme!" she pleaded, reaching for the box.

Inari pulled it out of her reach. It was funny to Inari to watch Komiri go "Co-co for Coco Puffs" as the comericals put it.

"I'll give them to you...for a price." Inari told her.

Komiri's face, at that point, resembled that of a puppy begging for a treat.

"But Inari!" she whined. "You always ask for the same thing and that's embarrassing!"

Just as Komiri was saying that Eiji, Oishi, Kaido, and Momo on his bike with Ryoma, came within ear shot. They watched as the shorter girl smirked.

"I can't help that it's the only thing you do that brings me physical pleasure." Inari replied, which made Komiri's pout larger and made the boys, with the exception of Ryoma who didn't care, think bad and inappropriate thoughts.

Oishi went red in the face along with Kaido, who was wide eyed. Momo was stumbling over his own words, and Eiji had gone wide eyed and, for the moment at least, speechless. Of course all of them had heard the rumors that Inari and Komiri were bisexual and a couple. None had seen proof of such but listening to this conversation certainly suggested so. Inari and Komiri had yet to notice the boys and carried on their conversation.

"But if someone sees...its embarrassing!" Komiri whined.

"Tough. If you want these, you have to agree." Inari replied, one hand on her hip, the other shaking the small box of Coco Puffs. "And I know you're out of these at home."

Komiri heaved an aggravated sigh, her shoulders slumped.

"Fine, but if anyone sees then it'll be you whose caught with her pants down!" Komiri retorted, taking the box from Inari, who only grinned.

"You two are sexually active!?"

Inari and Komiri turned to the boys at the sound of Eiji's voice. Eiji was pointing at them in shock. By this point, Taka, Tezuka, Inui, and Fuji had joined them. The last four had been in time to catch the end of Inari's and Komiri's conversation. Fuji was smiling in amusement, Inui was writing away, Taka was as red as a lobster from hair line to shirt collar, and Tezuka was pinching the bridge of his nose. Inari and Komiri had questionings looks on their faces.

"What are you talking about?" Komiri asked, flipping her long hair, which was worn loose with her school uniform, over her shoulder with ease.

"I know with the pressure of today's society that you feel the need to fit in but being sexually active together isn't the answer!" Oishi scolded as he walked up to the two. "We heard your conversation." he added.

Inari and Komiri looked at each other then before Inari grinned in amusement.

"I told you people take it wrong!" Komiri said, hitting Inari's shoulder.

Inari shook her head.

"They thought it was sexual..." Inari muttered, barely holding in laughter.

Komiri gave her a glare and turned to the boys.

"We were talking about a back massage! Inari builds up a lot of stress in her back and shoulders with her play style. She always makes me give her massages in exchange for my favorite cereal." Komiri told them.

"But you said it embarrass you!" Eiji pointed out.

"Yeah because a lot of people take it wrong and think it's sexual...like you did." Inari replied.

With the whole story the boys looked at each other, embarrassed that they had jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Jeez, typical boys. Your minds went instantly into the gutter." Komiri said, shaking her head.

Before the boys could say another word the two turned and left, linking their arms and hands as they walked away.

"Sexual, jeez!" Komiri muttered.

"Don't have to have sex to be in a relationship." Inari agreed before they were out of sight.

The boys stared after them. For the moment none of them could speak.

"You know...they never did confirm if they're together or not." Momo remarked.

The others turned to stare at him. Though he had a point, he didn't have to point it out.

-0-0-0-0-

"They honestly thought it was sexual!?"

Komiri threw a towel to Chisei. Safaia had spoken and was staring at her teammates in shock. Her mouth was even hanging open.

"Granted the way you two talk sometimes can be mistaken as that." Kame remarked as she took a drink from her water bottle.

The girls had just finished their morning warm-up laps under the threat of an extra hour of laps as punishment from Umi if they didn't run faster. Komiri and Inari just looked at each other with this new comment from Kame, grins on their faces. They knew exactly what they sounded like. Most of the time they did it on purpose.

"You should have seen Oishi-sempai's face though. It was funny how panicked he looked." Komiri said.

"You just like picking on people, Koko-chan!" Safaia retorted, thought she too, had a smile on her lips.

"On a different subject...has anyone seen Ranari?" Hana asked.

Many of the girls looked around but the freshman had vanished from their group. She did it quite a bit though none of the others could peg how she managed to vanish just like that.

"She was just here." Komiri remarked.

"She left with Umi while all of you were idiotically discussing sexual innuendo." Chisei retorted, blunt as always.

All eyes turned on the bespectacled girl who was busy tying her sneakers and didn't see the looks. Not that she would have cared. She never really did.

"Chi-chi, could you, just for once, not be so horribly blunt?" Safaia whined.

"She has a point, Chisei. Its rude." Kame added, though in truth, she had grown use to Chisei's bluntness and no longer was bothered by it.

Chisei was simply just unable to keep her true opinions to herself. And said so. Chisei blamed it on her parents, who were the same way, but her friends blamed it on her lack of social skills.

"I'm afraid I am unable to do so. If I don't say it, who will?" Chisei replied, giving a shrug of her shoulders in a I-really-don't-care manner.

No one said anything in reply. It was just best to not argue with Chisei. She always won in the end. Whether they liked it or not.

"Well, I'm off to join Ranari and Umi!" Safaia announced, now done cooling off after her laps.

With her bag slung over one shoulder, she bounced off towards the courts, Komiri and Inari following suit. The other girls followed, chattering as Komiri fixed her bat onto her head. Half way to the courts they came across the boys. Hana greeted the boys warmly, Safaia giving them a wave. The rest of the girls ignored their existence completely.

"Where's Umi-chan and Mentaru-"

Safaia and Hana clamped hands over Oishi's mouth, their eyes darting around them.

"Don't use her surname! She'll get annoyed. just call her Ranari like the rest of us." Hana told him quickly.

Both girls, sure that Ranari wasn't in hearing range, removed their hands.

"Why does she hate it?" Momo asked.

"She says that every time she hears it, she starts looking for her grandmother." Hana told him.

"Does she not get along with her grandmother?" Eiji asked.

He, personally, had a great relationship with his grandparents, so he couldn't imagine not being on good terms with them.

"No. Its just that she passes away a few years ago. Ranari misses her." Kame remarked, saying her words to the boys that morning.

"Oh." was all that left the boys' mouths.

"So just call her Ranari. Even the teachers do because she won't answer to her surname." Hana added, Oishi agreeing with a nod.

"Well then where are Umi-chan and Ranari-chan?" he asked.

"They're already on the courts." Inari replied curtly, moving past the boys.

"Inari and Koko were telling us about the misunderstanding this morning and Ranari didn't want to stick around to hear it." Hana told the boys as they followed.

Oishi turned red, remembering what had passed between Komiri, Inari, and the boys that morning. It had been the worse misunderstanding he had ever had.

"They told you?" he asked.

"Of course they did. You have to know that they were teasing you." Kame said.

"It was funny." Komiri declared before speeding up to catch up with Inari.

She linked her arms through Inari's and spoke lowly with the shorter girl.

"Um...are they..." Momo left the question hanging.

"A couple?" Chisei offered.

Momo nodded, all of the boys listening by this point.

"No one knows. They never confirm it nor deny it." Kame remarked, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I think they are! I've seen them kiss before!" Safaia said.

"Its likely just an act." Chisei said as the boys made faces.

"Nope! I know my own kind!" Safaia protested.

"Her own kind?" Taka asked, looking at Hana and Kame.

"Faia is gender fluid." Hana said.

All of the boys gave her blank stares. Apparentally none of them knew what that meant, or knew and just didn't want to say anything to the cheerful girl.

"She's bisexual." Kame clarified. "She even wants to steal Ranari's first kiss."

The boys turned their stares on Safaia then, the girl giving them a playful wink in reply.

"Even though being with another of her gender, is not productive to the act of reproduction." Chisei remarked.

Safaia turned on her.

"Its better then being asexual and not be productive in any way." she retorted, to which Chisei just shrugged.

Once again the boys turned to Kame for an answer.

"Asexual. Like how plants reproduce. Basically it means she likes herself and herself only. She could possibly swing either way if someone caught her attention but so far, no one has." Kame answered.

"Kame and Hana are straight. Its so boring." Safaia remarked.

"So is Umi, but you won't say that to her." Kame shot back.

"And Ranari?" Momo asked.

All four girls shrugged as if they didn't have a clue in the world and probably didn't.

"No one knows. She hasn't even hinted at what she prefers." Safaia remarked.

"Speaking of Ranari...looks like she and Umi are at it again." Kame remarked.

All eyes went to the courts where Ranari and Umi were caught in an intense rally. Neither girl was allowing the other any chance to steal a point.

"What's going on?" Kame asked those of the girls that were already around the court, watching the match.

"Shinkoku-buchou and Ranari-chan have been caught in a rally since we arrived." one girl replied, not taking her eyes from the court.

"Knowing them, they'll be stuck like this until one of them decides to get serious." Kame replied.

"Umi will steal the point with her Soft Tap Slice." Chisei retorted.

"Soft Tap Slice?" Fuji asked.

"Its a high speed slice that barely taps the ground. Anyone who relies on touch or hearing wouldn't be able to pick up on the placement of the ball until its too late." Hana explained.

Sure enough a call of "15-0" came from the court after Umi angled her racket to the side, letting the ball skim off the strings. Ranari frowned as she turned to her baseline where the ball was rolling away.

"You know, I hate that shot." Ranari called to Umi.

"And it is why you will continue to lose to me. Until you figure out how to overcome that shot, you will always lose." Umi replied.

"I know, I know. Come on, another point." Ranari said, turning back to the net.

A ghost of a smile flashed across Umi's face as she agreed, getting ready to play for another point.

"Those two seem competitive." Fuji remarked.

"Because they are. Have been since they were children. I think they've even been competitive since the day Ranari was born. But its in a healthy way." Kame said.

"Since she was born? I thought Shinkoko-chan recruited her from a different school." Oishi said.

"She did. You don't know?" Kame asked, turning to look at the boys.

"Know what?" Eiji asked.

"Umi and Ranari are cousins. Their fathers are brothers." Chisei said bluntly.

"But their surnames are different." Momo remarked.

"Don't get us started on that story." Komiri said, shaking her head.

Questioning looks were turned to Kame, who usually had all the answers to their questions regarding her teammates.

"Umi's family founded, owns, and runs an advertisement company. Umi is the youngest and second child of the oldest son. She's not the heir but is still pretty important in the family. Ranari, on the other hand, is the illegitimate daughter of the youngest son. The family has nothing to do with Ranari and Ranari has nothing to do with any of them, except Umi." Kame explained.

"Its why, outside of tennis, they have to pretend to have nothing to do with each other." Safaia added.

"That's awful!" Oishi said.

"It's life, so forget it."

Everyone turned to find Ranari on the other side of the fence. She was wiping her cheeks with a towel she had hung around her shoulders. She didn't look at the group but from the look on Umi's face as she handed Ranari a water bottle, they had heard the last bit of the conversation. Umi didn't appear happy and was openly throwing guilty and some what sheepish looks at Ranari. The younger girl didn't act like she noticed.

"Ranari-chan-" Ranari cut off Oishi.

"No offense, Oishi-sempai, but its nothing for you to get mushy over. It happens with illegitimate children all the time. Nothing to sweat over." Ranari told him. "I've done just fine without my father in the picture."

Oishi fell silent and Ranari turned to Umi.

"Are we going to practice?" she asked.

"Yes. Girls...**line up!**" Umi said, roaring the last part in a yell that would have put a drill sergeant to shame.

Ranari dropped her towel and water bottle on her bag and left the boys to go about their practice. The boys joined the girls, lining up beside them with the regulars in the front. Tezuka and Umi faced them with Oishi and Kame at their sides.

"From this day forward, we will all be working together." Umi started, her eyes scanning both teams. "As I've told my girls, you play nice with us, we play nice with you. We're willing to let bygones be bygones while on these courts." she added.

Umi turned her eyes to the boys.

"But know, Tezuka-kun and I have agreed that in order to best operate as one team, for the day...we will be switching teams. I will be leading the boys in practice and Tezuka-kun will be leading the girls."

Protest sounded from boys and girls alike. Tired of hearing complaints, Ranari turned to face her team.

"Oh quit complaining. What are you, women or infants?" Ranari asked, hands on hips.

All of the girls shouted their replies, not all nice. Not that Ranari was offend or even fazed by the replies.

"Hey, shut up! Let her talk!" Inari snapped.

The complaints were still there, but were low, more along the lines of girls complaining to themselves instead of loud enough to be heard.

"Look at this way, we may get Tezuka-sempai, but...the boys have to deal with Umi." Ranari added.

All complaints instantly died away and grins lit most of the girls' faces as they looked at the boys. Ranari nodded once and turned back around.

"Continue, dear captain of ours." Ranari told Umi.

Umi was frowning at this point, her hands on her hips. She wasn't sure how to take Ranari's opinion of the situation. She wanted to be grateful that Ranari was trying to help when usually all she did was cause trouble, but she also wanted to feel insulted.

"I know you were trying to help, but now I feel insulted." Umi replied, putting a grin on Ranari's face.

"Well, you are a tyrant." Kame said, coming to Ranari's defense.

Umi turned on her vice-captain, who gave her a wide smile to show her amusement. Only two people were truly fearless around Umi; Ranari and Kame. They knew they could get away with anything short of murder with Umi. Umi gave her vice-captain a hard look before turning back.

"As I was saying...I will lead the boys and Tezuka-kun will lead the girls. We have both agreed that we have full rights to punish the other's team as long as it's within reason. Step out of line girls and Tezuka-kun will punish you. Step out of line boys, and I assure you, I will punish you as I would my own team." Umi continued.

The boys groaned at the idea. None of them doubted Umi's ability to be a slave driver. She was well known for being one on the courts as well as in the classroom, ruling her class as the class representative with an iron fist. They had all heard enough tales from others who had either watched the girls' practices or those who were in the same class as her.

But the girls knew Tezuka would be no walk in the park either. Both teams were in for it.

"Ranari!"

Ranari's eyebrows shot up in questioning as Umi called on her.

"Yes, oh beloved captain of ours?" Ranari asked, the sarcasm clear in her voice.

"If Tezuka-kun tells me, he had any issues with you, you are going to be in serious trouble." Umi informed her.

"You really think he'll admit he couldn't handle a little first year like me?" Ranari replied.

All eyes turned to Tezuka then. Would he tell Umi that he couldn't rein in her rambunctious cousin? Tezuka glanced at Ranari who was staring straight ahead, a smile on her face.

"I assure you, all will be fine." Tezuka told Umi.

Umi eyed him before giving him a firm nod. Whether or not he could handle Ranari would soon been known.

"Then my team is your team." Umi replied.

Umi turned to usher the boys off for practice and stopped when she stood beside Kame.

"Keep an eye on her. If she starts acting out, threaten her with Grampa Miruko." Umi told her friend.

Kame nodded and Umi headed off towards the boys, shouting orders to get the boys in gear. Tezuka and Oishi over heard and gave Kame questioning looks, but Kame shook her head. Taking the hint, Oishi left Tezuka with the girls. WHen he turned to the girls all of them were staring at him, half with looks to kill. This wasn't going to be easy and he knew it. Boys were pretty easy to handle, if not a bit boisterous.

But girls?

Tezuka had very little experience handling girls and that was only through student council. To top it off, those girls didn't want to kill him...these did!

"Your lead, **buchou**." Kame said, her voice boardering on mockery.

Tezuka glanced at her, only getting a half smile in reply. From the looks of it, he wouldn't be able to count on Kame for any help past keeping Ranari in check. He could feel a headache forming and the day had barely started. It was going to be a long day for sure.

-0-0-0-0-

"Argh, my muscles are killing me!"

Momo's complaint was shared by all of the boys. While Umi was a slave driver and was whipping them like dogs, she, at least, let them take breaks. When she wasn't roaring orders at them and pushing them to run harder, move faster, Umi was actually pretty decent. The girl captain caught mistakes and areas that needed improvement, quicker then Inui did. She didn't belittle or treat the boys any different then the girls

If anything she had a little more patience with the boys, who weren't use to her.

The girls on the other hand, were putting Tezuka through his paces. They never got too out of hand and if they did, Kame snapped them back into line. But it was only when they went too far that she helped.

To Tezuka's surprise, it wasn't Ranari who gave him the most trouble, though she wasn't the easiest to handle. It was actually a mix of Inari, Komiri, and Safaia. For some reason Safaia, who had no problems with the other boys, had a major chip on her shoulder when it came to Tezuka. With every order he gave her, she had a nasty and/or childish look or gesture for him. The cheerfully bouncy girl that had greeted the boys that morning, now had a sour note to her. Hana tried to sooth it all over with the help of Sakuno, who had been ordered by Umi to train with the regulars, but Chisei's blunt remarks quickly turned it sour again.

And then there was the mischievous red head herself; Ranari.

To the unobservant eye Ranari would seem like the least of his worries.

Not true.

Behind every argument and foul look, was Ranari's subtle but anger inducing words. The girl seemed to take joy in his discomfort. It reminded him a little of Fuji. Only a little. Tezuka had the scary feeling that Ranari might actually be worse then Fuji.

"She's not usually this bad you know."

Tezuka's attention turned from Ranari, who was currently playing a practice match with Komiri, who was cursing every few seconds because of her dislike of Ranari's play style, to Kame, who now stood beside him.

"Ranari isn't usually like this. She just likes you, that's all." Kame informed him with a causal shrug of her shoulders.

Tezuka's brows shot up in questioning and shock. This was how Ranari acted when she **liked** someone!? He hated to see how she would act if she disliked them.

"Ranari thinks you'd be a good friend for Umi, so she likes you. Purely in a friendship kind of way of course. She believes she has to test you, to see how much you're willing to take. She's not trying to break you...yet." Kame explained to him.

Tezuka's eyes drifted back to the first year who had just won her match 6-2, leaving Komiri puffing her cheeks out in annoyance. The younger girl grinned up at her sempai who just sighed and shook her head, unable to stay annoyed with Ranari.

"If you can take it, eventually she will stop and then you'll just be left with her everyday chaos. Which, I might add, is on a far smaller scale than this." Kame added.

"And if I can't?" Tezuka asked.

"Then you are royally screwed." Kame told him with a smile on her face.

She sat down the water bottle in her hand and picked up her racket, to get back to practice more then likely.

"Just so you know...pretty much all of the girls are hoping you can't and that she'll destroy you." Kame told him.

The girls were relying on a first year to drive him away? It seemed a bit childish no matter how much of a holy terror that first year was. Kame though didn't see it that way.

"Ranari is a good judge of character. So is Umi. If they both deem you and your regulars alright, then the others will trust their judgment. For the sake of our teams' futures...take what Ranari dishes out." Kame told him before walking off.

Tezuka watched as Kame called Ranari, calling her to have a match. Ranari happily dropped her towel and grabbed a racket. He watched, curiously, as, for a moment, Ranari felt around for her racket before her hand found it. Racket in hand Ranari hurried back onto the court. Tezuka's attention stayed on the two for a moment before turning to a match between Safaia and Chisei. Tezuka had noticed, since the practice matches started, that each girl had their own strengths and already knew what worked best.

Safaia, for one, was okay in singles, her energy on the courts enough to wear out her opponent in an endurance match, but she was best in doubles. Especially when she was paired with Kame, Chisei, or Hana. On the opposite end of that there was Ranari who thrived in Singles, but, as Tezuka was told, could only play Doubles with Umi. She had a strong Singles style but unless her Doubles partner was her cousin, she fell short.

He had been told that that was for a reason, but no one had bothered to tell him that reason.

Hana, Chisei, and Kame did well in Doubles, no matter their partners, and were still good in Singles. Komiri and Inari, though both were okay in singles, usually played Doubles 1 together. Only together. All of the girls knew where they fit in the team. Even Ranari who had played the least amount of time with the third years since she started at the school in middle school.

When asked about why all of them came from different regions, different prefectures, Hana just grinned at him.

"Umi recruited us all back in middle school, Ranari included. We were all a team when Ranari was a first year in middle school. Even when us third years graduated and moved up to high school and when Koko and Inari graduated as well, we all still met up to play together. Well...not Umi and Ranari at the same time. But because of that we all still know each other and what works between us. In fact we all come from a different town, in a different prefecture, and a different region. No two of us are from the same region let alone same prefecture or town." Hana had told him.

"I'm from Takamatsu in the Kagawa Prefecture of the Shikoku Region, Kame is from Abishiri in the Hokkaido Prefecture of the Hokkaido Region, Safaia is from Kawazawa in the Ishikawa Perfecture of the Chubu Region, Chisei is from Okayona in the Okayona Prefecture of the Chugoku Region, Inari is from Osaka in the Osaka Prefecture of the Kansai Region, Komiri is from Fukuoka in the Fukuoka Prefecture of the Kyushu Region, and Ranari is from Yokokana in the Kanagawa Prefecture of the Kanto Region. See, no two alike."

When he had asked why they were from so many different regions, Hana had replied, "Umi claims she took the best of all the regions she looked at. A melding pot if you will.".

Everyone claimed that the girls' team was awful. Watching them push themselves in practice, Tezuka disagreed. They girls had the ability to do great. It was simply seeing how they dealt under pressure. He would have to look at their matches from the year before. After practice ended, the other boys' regulars had nothing but good to say about Umi. Other then calling her a slave driver, that is. Of course Tezuka couldn't say he had **no** complaint. By the end of practice, Ranari had the cool headed Tezuka ready to snap.

Nothing had bothered the girl. Laps, wall-sits, picking up balls...nothing. How was he suppose to lead a girl who didn't respond to the usual punishments?

"I see you survived."

Tezuka looked up at Umi as the girl, now changed into her school uniform, approached him. The two were in the same class, though neither ever really acknowledge the other outside their duties as the male and female reps. Now they had to.

"She's quite the challenge." Tezuka replied.

Umi nodded as she fell into step beside him. She didn't need to ask who Tezuka was referring to.

"That she is. She's hard to punish but next time all you have to say is "Grandpa Miruko". She'll shape up then." Umi told him.

Tezuka looked down at her, questioning in his eyes.

"Its her maternal grandfather. He's the only person who Ranari both fears and respects beyond all else. And as his only grandchild, Grandpa Miruko expects the best from Ranari. If I have to tell him she's acting out, he comes down on her pretty hard. Its the only way to get her to listen sometimes." Umi explained.

Tezuka would have to keep that in mind. He knew he wouldn't want word getting back to his grandfather that he was acting out. Not that he ever did, but still.

"We have to do something. Working with your team, I realized how uncomfortable they are with mine. We can't work together that way." Umi said suddenly.

Tezuka looked down at her again as she chewed on a thumbnail in thought.

"Any ideas?" he asked.

Umi was silent for a long moment as she considered it.

"Just one, but its a long shot. Con, we could have more fighting, a full out mutiny, on our hands. Pro, we could get more doubles pairs." Umi said.

There was already fighting. How much worse could it get? In Tezuka's opinion, the pro in this case, heavily out-weighted the con.

"What's the idea?"

END

Kyandi: Chapter done!

Ranari: You make me sound like a total b-

Umi: Ranari!

Ranari: What? I was going to say butthead. What the hell did you think I was going to say?

Umi:...

Kyandi: Let's discuss that later. Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.

Hana: We will be back soon with the next chapter.

Safaia: Bye-bye!


	5. The Partner Theory

Kyandi: And we're back!

Ranari: She had to update a few other stories.

Kyandi: And start a new one.

Umi: That is not even anime related.

Kyandi: Oh well! I love the book series. Anyway, lets get on with this. Safaia, Komiri, take it away!

Safaia: Please enjoy and review!

Komiri: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis.

Ranari: Which is why I'm not allowed to maim the boys.

Kyandi: Oh boo-hoo.

Chapter 5 The Partner Theory

"Ranari-chan!"

Ranari raised her head when she heard her name. She half turned, listening to the approaching steps. Light, quick...frantic. Ranari grinned to herself before turning to face the person who had called her.

"Hello Sakuno. Haven't I asked you to just call me, Ranari?" Ranari said as the young Ryuzaki came to a stop beside her.

Ranari was on her way to afternoon practice, having passed up the offer to walk with Horio, Ryoma, and their friends. Sakuno blushed under that stare of Ranari's pale lavender eyes.

"Uh, yes b-but I just...I mean I wanted to..." Sakuno stumbled over her words as she twisted her hands together.

Ranari tilted her head in questioning before smiling at her fellow first year.

"Breathe, Sakuno. I'm not going to bite your head off. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not all that malicious." Ranari told her in good humor.

Sakuno blushed more, her eyes going to the ground.

"Sorry." she said lowly.

Ranari couldn't help the light laugh that left her lips.

"Sakuno, you really need to work on your assertiveness. Just say it." Ranari told her kindly.

Sakuno nodded, before taking a deep breath.

"Thank you for suggesting me to Shinkoku-buchou as a sub!" Sakuno rushed out.

Ranari blinked in surprised. She hadn't expected Sakuno to thank her. All Ranari had done was suggest that the other first year was a good choice. Nothing to thank her for.

"Its nothing to thank me for. It was a professional, honest opinion. You're a good player, Sakuno. Strong, steady, and cunning. You need to stop doubting yourself so much." Ranari told her, seriously. "Now come on. I heard Umi and Tezuka-sempai talking. They're planning something. Lets go find out what."

Sakuno nodded and fell into step with Ranari. The two arrived at the locker room to find Komiri, Inari, and Kame were already changing.

"Where's the others?" Ranari asked.

"Hana is running a little behind because she was helping her teachers. Faia and Chisei had to stop by the teacher lounge to pick up something. Umi is already on the courts with Tezuka-kun." Kame replied.

Ranari nodded and went to her locker to start changing, Sakuno beside her.

"I'm telling you, Umi has something planned. She and Tezuka-kun have had their heads together all day!"

The loud exclamation proceeded Safaia before she, Chisei, and Hana walked in.

"Its the first time I've seen her so chummy with a boys." Safaia added.

"You're being paranoid." Chisei replied.

"Not really. I heard them."

All attention turned to Ranari as she yanked her shirt over her head, fingering the buttons and holes at the collar before doing up all but one of the buttons. Kame walked behind her, tucking in the tag of her shirt for her.

"They're up to something and we're probably not going to like it." Ranari added.

"Are you sure?" Komiri asked.

Ranari raised an eyebrow at Komiri.

"Are you questioning **my** hearing?" Ranari asked.

Sakuno gave the others a questioning look as they all fell silent at this comment. Was Ranari's hearing above normal? That had to be the case. Sakuno couldn't explain it any other way. Ranari had over heard conversations that normally would have been too far out of ear shot to hear.

The girls finished their changing and quickly headed for the courts. Umi and Tezuka were still talking together, a paper in hand, only this time they had pulled Ryuzaki in on it.

"I told you, they're up to something." Ranari remarked as the girls watched the two captains and their coach.

"Any idea what?"

The girls turned as the boys joined them.

"Oh I have a pretty good idea." Ranari replied.

But none of the others had the time to question the fiery haired, first year before a yell sounded over the courts.

"Line up!" Umi yelled, the members of both clubs scrambling to do so.

Once everyone was lined up, Umi looked at Tezuka who gave her a nod to go ahead. Umi nodded back in reply and faced the others to do just that.

"After practice this morning, I realized how much tension there is between the two teams. To win our upcoming matches we can't afford for this tension to continue. After watching the boys this morning, I have to say...I was wrong in my judgment." Umi said, her last comment shocking all.

Shocked, the girls looked at each other. Obviously none of them had expected Umi to change her mind about the boys, let alone admit that she had.

"The boys work just as hard as we do. They really aren't all that bad. Loud and sometimes overly annoying, but not bad. Ranari deems Tezuka-kun to be the same." Umi added.

All eyes turned to Ranari, who stood at the end of the line of girls regulars, her hands in her pockets.

"Hey, I gave it my best shot. I even put ghost chili pepper in his water and drove him up the wall and still he persisted. The man is made of iron...I like him." Ranari remarked, declaring her support of the male captain.

Tezuka grimaced while Umi turned on Ranari.

"Ghost chilies? Ranari! Were you trying to make him ill!?" Umi hissed.

"He spit it back out and I was the only one to see it. At least I didn't put Doctor in his jersey." Ranari replied.

At the mention of the name Doctor, all of the girls' regulars shivered. The Doctor, or Doctor, was Ranari's pet tarantula who she named after watching her favorite British TV show; Doctor Who. It was almost as if the over grown spider could understand Ranari because when she told it to sick someone, it did.

"Moving on." Umi said, deciding to scold Ranari later.

"Since so much tension still remains, Tezuka-kun and I have come up with an idea. Starting today our two teams will conduct joint practices and as for the regulars, starting today...each boy will be paired with a girl. Ryuzaki-chan, you will join us to make the numbers even." Umi announced.

Groans and protest rose from the teams.

"Damn, I hate it when I'm right." Ranari remarked as others complained.

"Silence!"

As usual Umi's roar silence everyone instantly.

"Every two days you will switch partners. During the time between now and the tournament we must gain the same sense of closeness and trust with each other tht we have with our own teammates. A team cannot work if it is divided. So during this time you and your partner for the moment will do as much together as possible. You will eat lunch together at school, you will stretch and practice with them, and if you hang out outside of school, they will be with you. And don't think for a moment that I won't know. Tezuka-kun and I are not spared from this either. And you must do at least one out-of-school activity with each partner. This is how we will begin to bond as a team. We cannot continue with this tension." Umi told them.

This time no protest rose since everyone could see Umi's point in the matter. It was for team unity. Even if it was going a bit over board, it was what they needed. Umi looked over the two teams and gave a firm nod.

"Then regulars stay put. Everyone else, third and second years rally, each girl with a boy, first years practice swings." Umi demanded.

The other club members left to do as told, leaving the others to face their captains.

"Tezuka-kun will read off your pairs for the next two days." Umi told them.

Tezuka held up the list in his hand and started to read the pairs written there.

"Shinkoku and I will pair off first. First pair is Oishi and...Okuyona."

Kame and Oishi looked at each other, Oishi offering the girl a smile to which Kame awkwardly adjusted her glasses.

"Next, Inui and...Kagayakashi."

Chisei and Inui studied each other from where they stood, Chisei having to tilt her head back farther then usual to look at the taller boy's face.

"Eiji and...Hariken."

Safaia leaned around Hana to look at Eiji, a grin on her face as she gave the boy a wink, to which Eiji smiled.

"Kawamura and...Sensaina."

Hana blushed when Taka smiled at her and looked down at her feet, wringing her hands and leaving Taka confused to the reaction.

"Kaido and...Uiru."

Komiri looked at Kaido and instantly wrapped her arms around Inari protectively.

"Momoshiro and...Anju."

Komiri's grip only tightened on Inari, almost possessively as Inari was paired with Momo.

"Echizen and...Ryuzaki."

Sakuno was so flustered and red that she nearly stumbled into Ranari, while on the other hand, Eiji and Momo were teasing Ryoma.

"And last, Fuji and...Men-"

"Don't call her Mentaru!" all the girls yelled, cutting off Tezuka.

Tezuka paused only for a moment, looking up at the girls before continuing.

"These are the pairs for now. In two days, we will announce the new pairs at the start of morning practice. Now get to stretching!" Tezuka demanded.

For a moment no one moved. Finally Hana ventured forward, offering her current partner a smile. Safaia bounced after her, Kame following her. Chisei was muttering lowly to herself as she followed about the pros and cons of being teamed with Inui. At the moment, the cons out weighted the pros. Eiji was a little weary at first, seeing the wide grin on Safaia's face, but with a far less evil looking smile from Safaia, he smiled back.

Kame politely inclined her head to Oishi who smiled back. Inui and Chisei stared at one another, sizing the other up, Inui writing in his notebook and Chisei still muttering. Komiri had latched firmly onto Inari and all but growled when Momo and Kaido neared them. Both boys looked at each other, unsure how, and unwilling to, proceed. Inari did nothing to defuse Komiri, just pat her on the arm as if to say, "good girl".

"Uiru." Umi said in a warning tone.

Komiri heaved a sigh before releasing Inari. Inari reached out and pat Komiri's cheek in reassurance before joining Momo. Komiri just pouted as Kaido joined her. On the other hand there was Sakuno who stuttered as she greeted Ryoma.

"Breathe, Sakuno. Just talk to him." Ranari told her, causing the other first year to blush.

Sakuno did as told, though, taking a deep breath and tried again, actually getting most of her sentence out before stuttering once more. Ranari smiled to herself.

"Ranari-chan."

Ranari half turned towards Fuji, cocking one ear up as if to listen to him.

"Fuji-sempai, correct?" she asked.

"Yes. It seems we'll be partners for the time being." he said.

"So it would seem. And with the weekend starting tomorrow." Ranari remarked.

Fuji tilted his head to the side.

"Oh? Did you have something planned for this weekend?" he asked.

"Just work." was Ranari's simple reply before Umi and Tezuka called the start of their practice.

"First today we will hold Doubles matches to see how well our new pairs can work together." Tezuka announced.

"Since we have an uneven amount of pairs though...Ranari, Fuji-kun, you two will sit out." Umi added.

Fuji glanced out of the side of his eyes, watching as Ranari's jaw clenched and her relaxed posture was switched with something a little more tense.

"Umi, if you're trying to-" Ranari started but was cut off by Umi.

"Just for today, Ranari. We'll discuss it later, if you want, but in private." Umi told her.

Ranari remained silent, her jaw popping as she worked it. She was obviously fuming from being made to sit out, but finally she sighed.

"Fine, sure. Whatever." Ranari retorted.

Tezuka turned to Fuji. With Ranari in agreement, the hard part was out of the way.

"Fuji."

That was all he needed to say for Fuji to agree. One fuming, the other curious as to why, the two retreated to the edge of the court.

"She's doing this on purpose. I'm not helpless." Ranari said to herself lowly as she dropped to sit on a bench.

Fuji sat beside her, looking at her out of the side of his eyes. A few strands of hair had fallen free of her tie and were handing in her face. Fuji reached out to swipe them aside. Ranari didn't move until his finger tips touched her hair. Ranari flinched, turning to him as her hand few up to her hair.

"What is it, Fuji-sempai?" she asked.

Fuji stared at her for a second before he smiled.

"You had hair in your face." he told her.

"Oh."

That was all that came from the girl as she turned from, shoving hair back and re-tying it. Something was off. The girl watched the matches, but her eyes didn't follow anyone or any of the balls. Almost as if she was staring off into space, instead of focusing on the matches.

"You remarked that she was doing this on purpose. Why?" Fuji asked.

"Just don't mind me, Fuji-sempai. I'm just slighted that I have to sit out. That's all." Ranari replied, heaving a sigh. "Sometimes, it just feels like she does this to me on purpose since I'm the youngest. But that doesn't work right now because Sakuno is the same age."

"It's hard having your cousin as your captain, isn't it?" Fuji asked with a smile.

"You have no idea. I can get away with a lot, but at the same time, if I push her too much, she tells my mother and grandfather on me. This is the only time we have to spend together and she sits me out." Ranari remarked, shaking her head.

Fuji smiled at this. It sounded more like a pair of sisters, rather then cousins to him. Ranari, though, seemed more annoyed with it then anything. Especially when having to sit out like this.

"I'm sure she's not singling you out." Fuji assured her.

"That's where you're wrong, Fuji-sempai. Umi always singles me out. She feels that she has to." Ranari replied.

"Why?" Fuji asked, curious.

"To protect me, though I don't need it." Ranari replied, not looking in his direction.

"To protect you? From what, Ranari-chan?" he asked.

Fuji never did get an answer from Ranari. Which only made him all the more eager to find out the answer.

-0-0-0-0-

"This is awkward."

The boys shared the girls' feelings as they walked home. Each boy had to accompany their partner after school, no matter where they went. Since Safaia, Komiri, Sakuno, and Inari already had plans to go eat burgers after practice, Eiji, Momo, Kaido, and Ryoma got dragged along. Since she lived in the same direction, Ranari was tagging along for part of the walk, Fuji at her side.

She had insisted he didn't have to since she was only going home and lived in the opposite direction of her, but Fuji silenced teh logical argument by saying that he could get his older sister to come get him if it was too far. Ranari, who would have been late if she had, didn't argue with him.

"It's Umi's and Tezuka-kun's rules. We can't argue." Safaia replied as she sighed. "I'm all for making new friends, especially since we need to work together, but this feels kind of too forced in my opinion." she added.

She walked beside Eiji easily enough, having taken a bit of a liking to him after their Doubles match together that afternoon. Komiri and Inari on the other hand kept Safaia, Sakuno, Ryoma, and Eiji between them and Momo and Kaido. Sakuno walked beside Ryoma, if a little shyly and Ranari had absolutely no problem with Fuji or the boys.

"I don't know. I kind of see their points in this. And I trust Umi. The gods know I wish I didn't at times, but I do trust her. She's never done me wrong before." Ranari replied with a shrug of her delicate shoulders. "I suppose it all comes down to whether or not you trust your captain to do what is right for the team."

Komiri frowned. She knew the girl had a point but she didn't want to share Inari. Inari just didn't want to deal with the boys period.

"I-I trust Shinkoku-buchou." Sakuno said then, putting a smile on Ranari's face.

She had always known she liked Sakuno.

"Of course we trust Tezuka." Eiji said, Momo and Kaido nodding in agreement.

"Umi's never steered me wrong before. I trust her whole heartedly. Wouldn't have moved from Kawazawa if I didn't." Safaia said with a firm nod.

Ryoma made a noise of agreement.

"Inari and I trust her too. We wouldn't of met if it wasn't for Umi-buchou." Komiri said, Inari agreeing.

Ranari half turned to Fuji, who stood on her other side. He had remained mostly silent through this whole thing.

"What about you, Fuji-sempai? How much do you trust, Tezuka-sempai?" she asked.

Fuji considered the question for a moment. The longer he remained silent the higher Ranari's eyebrow inched up.

"Fairly much. He's never given me reason not to." Fuji replied.

"Then there's your answer. Awkward or not, they're doing what they have to for the team." Ranari said simply.

At this point, they had reached an intersection, making Ranari look up.

"This is where I part ways. See you guys tomorrow." Ranari told the group, waving over her shoulder as they turned to the right and she kept going forward.

Fuji followed after her, sticking to her side, and soon the two were gone from sight.

"Ranari will be alright without Umi-buchou, right?" Komiri questioned Safaia.

"According to Umi, yeah." Safaia replied.

"Of course she'll be fine! She has Fujiko with her!" Eiji retorted.

"It's nothing against him, Kikumaru-kun. Ranari...gets lost easily and Fuji-kun doesn't know the way to her house." Safaia told him, ignoring his complaint of "Call me Eiji!".

The boys had a feeling there was more to the story then that, but didn't press. They weren't on good enough terms with the girls to ask questions like that.

"She'll be fine though. She just has to call her neighbor if she get lost." Safaia said.

When they reached the McDonalds, Komiri and Inari ordered their usual; six McDoubles to split between them, two large orders of fries, M&amp;M McFlurries, and a large soda with two straws. They sat next to each other, while Safaia order two burgers and a drink. Eiji ended up paying for Momo's, Ryoma's, and, because Ryoma offered to but it, Sakuno's. His wallet was empty afterwards. Kaido stuck with an oder similar to Safaia's. When they sat down to eat, Komiri and Inari were already feeding each other fries and bites of the candy filled icecream. Momo and Kaido, who sat across from them, couldn't help but stare.

"Are you two really a..." Momo cut off unable to finish.

The two looked up at him, blinked once, then grinned.

"You have to find out for yourself." Komiri said, Inari sticking out her tongue.

Safaia shook her head. She could have told the boys that that was going to be the answer they would get. Komiri and Inari never answered that question for anyone.

"Don't tease them." she told her two kouhai.

"You're the tease, sempai. To boys **and** girls." Inari replied.

"Oh right, your bisexual." Momo said, looking at the girl.

Safaia rolled her eyes at him.

"I prefer to call it gender fluid." she responded.

"I don't see how any guy would date you. You could always leave them for a girl. No guy wants that kind of blow to his confidence." Momo remarked.

"Hey! I'm very loyal, thank you very much! If I date, I don't even consider others. It's rude and unfaithful and I don't do unfaithful." Safaia retorted.

"Exactly!" Komiri exclaimed, Inari adding a "Ahem!" to it.

Sakuno and Ryoma didn't say a word as they ate, Sakuno blushing at the direction the conversation around her was taking.

"I bet I know who Sakuno-chan likes~!" Safaia said, Sakuno's head snapping up, her cheeks scarlet.

Her eyes darted to Ryoma who had chose that moment to take an interest in the conversation at hand.

"I-I...It's not...please don't!" Sakuno said, finally pleading with Safaia to not say anything.

Safaia pouted but didn't say anything, though Momo and Komiri instantly stared teasing her and Ryoma.

"Idiot." Kaido hissed lowly as he looked at Momo.

"You ain't kidding." Inari agreed, her eyes on Komiri.

The two looked at each other, surprising that they had agreed on something. Komiri interrupted the moment by reclaiming Inari's attention.

"Hey are we still on for Sunday? We'd have to bring the boys along." Komiri remarked.

"You two have something planned Sunday?" Momo asked.

"Yeah. My step-brother is a amusement park ride designer. He can get me as many free passes as I want. Komiri and I were going to go this Sunday." Inari replied.

"You'll have to ask him for two extra now." Komiri said.

Inari shrugged.

"That's fine. He won't mind when I explain it to him." Inari replied.

Momo, and even Kaido, were excited at the chance of a free pass to an amusement park. Even if they had to spend the whole day with the two girls, who obviously didn't like them, they could still have some fun and it would count for their one, out-of-school activity.

"I don't have anything planned for this weekend. My sister, and one of my brothers have dates this weekend, another brother is working, and the last one is still out of town. My parents are working all weekend. So I'm open." Safaia said.

"We can go to the movies." Eiji offered.

Safaia's face lit up and the two started discussing different types of movies they could go see. They agreed pretty quickly on a new movie that they both thought they would like. Sakuno and Ryoma both pretty much agreed on visiting the tennis shop and then going to the street courts. Pretty standard of a Sunday for Ryoma.

"Who do you think will have the hardest time this weekend?" Safaia asked.

"That's easy. Hands down its going to be Ranari." Komiri replied.

"Why do you say that?" Eiji asked.

"Well Umi-buchou should get along pretty okay with Tezuka-sempai. She has a company party thing to go to this Sunday and she'll probably have him go with her. Her family will like him." Komiri said.

"Hana and Taka-kun seem like they get along well, if not shly. They'll be fine." Safaia said.

"Chisei-sempai will probably drag Inui-sempai to one of her parents' lectures at their university, so they should be fine." Inari remarked.

"We all seem to get along well enough and have something planned to get by, so that leaves Ranari." Komiri added.

"But Fujiko is nice." Eiji protested.

"It's not Fuji-kun that's the issue. It's Ranari. She usually never leaves home. Her mother works two jobs so Ranari's usually always at home on Sundays. Doing chores and such." Safaia told him.

"And she doesn't like big crowds. They make her disoriented." Inari added.

"Sounds like she needs a little fun." Eiji said.

"Just let her and Fuji-kun figure it out." Safaia told him.

Eiji hoped they could figure it out. Ranari didn't look like she was the easiest person to get along with and if Fuji couldn't get along with her, then no one could. Fuji would be setting the pace for the rest of them. If he could break the ice with the overly spirited first year, then he could pave a way for the rest of them. If he couldn't...none of the boys were sure they would survive their turns.

-0-0-0-0-

For most of the walk, Ranari and Fuji remained silent, Fuji watching the girl as she walked. It seemed like the girl knew the way by heart and was walking on auto pilot, freeing her mind for thinking instead of focusing on where she was going.

"You know you didn't have to walk with me. I know what Umi said, but I live so far out of the way and I'm not usually the most chatty when walking home." Ranari said suddenly.

"It's fine with me. I like this part of town. There are a lot of front gardens to look at." Fuji told her.

"I suppose so."

The simple reply made Fuji look down at her. Unlike him, who kept finding his eyes drifting to the beautiful and colorful gardens that lined the streets, Ranari's eyes were focused forward.

"Do you not like gardens?" he asked.

"Oh no, that's not it. I love gardens. I live over a flower shop. All the different smells are nice. It's just my mind is currently running through chores to be done before my mom gets home." Ranari replied.

"Does she work late?" Fuji asked.

"Ish. She works two jobs to provide for us. She's a GA for a graphic design company during the day and at nights and on weekends, she works in a shop she owns. So I like to have all the chores and dinner done when she gets home. You know, so she can relax for the little time she has between jobs." Ranari replied.

Fuji looked down at her. Ranari acted carefree and indifferent to the world, constantly causing trouble and acting irresponsible but in truth she was actually very considerate and responsible. That just went to show that no one could judge a book by it's cover. It wasn't always a fair judgement, as shown by Ranari.

"That's considerate of you." Fuji remarked.

"She's my mother. I could do no less for her after all the extra care she's given me. It hasn't exactly been easy you know, raising me alone." Ranari replied.

Fuji supposed not. His father was gone for work quite a lot but with Yuuta living in the dorms at school and his sister living at home and helping, his mother didn't have it all that hard.

"Well, that's truth. Will your mother mind you hanging out with me this weekend? We do have to do one activity together." Fuji said.

"She'll understand when she hears that Umi ordered it." Ranari said.

Suddenly the girl took a corner, one hand running over a sign sat at the street. They entered a small parking lot where ten parking spaces were marked off. Fuji found himself standing in front of the Mother's Love Flower Shop, the front decorated in bright purples, blues, and beige. Stairs at the side of the building led upstairs to the second floor apartment.

"This is home. Thanks for walking me, Fuji-sempai. I guess, if it's alright with you, you can meet me here at the flower shop, Sunday morning. We'll figure out what to do then." she told him.

"Sounds good to me. See you tomorrow, Ranari-chan." Fuji told her.

"Night, Fuji-sempai."

With that Ranari turned and headed up the stairs, pulling a key from her pocket as she went. Fuji stood there until Ranari was safely inside, the door closing and locking behind her. Once she was gone from sight, he pulled out his phone to call his sister, watching as a light flared to life in one of the front windows.

Ranari wasn't a bad sort, just...high spirited. Or at least that was what he was going to tell his friends so that they were off guard for when they got her. It would be fun to watch them struggle. Especially Tezuka. He couldn't wait to see how Tezuka handled it. Fuji had a feeling he was going to get to see the annoyed tick mark appear on Tezuka's forehead when the boy was paired with Ranari. And he was going to enjoy it

END

Kyandi: There you go! Another chapter to appease you, for now.

Ranari: You have another chapter after this, right?

Kyandi: One more, with a second in the making.

Umi: Then get to work! You don't have the time to slack off!

Kyandi: You sound more and more like my mother by the minute.

Umi:...Are you calling me old?

Kyandi: I didn't **say** that.

Komiri, Ranari, &amp; Safaia: Hahaha!

Umi: Wall sits! NOW!

Kyandi: Alright, while Umi is punishing the laughing goofs, lets get this wrapped up. Hana, Kame.

Hana: Please enjoy and review.

Kame: We will be back soon. Farewell!


	6. Jealousy

Kyandi: Hey guys! I had a few other updates to do, but I got one more chapter for you.

Umi: Then she has to go back to writing.

Kyandi: Yep. But with my high muse, that shouldn't be a problem.

Kame: The chapter after this one promises to be interesting.

Komiri: Speak for yourself.

Hana: It's not that bad, Koko-chan.

Kyandi: As fun as it is to poke at Komiri and tease her, we got to get a move on. It's late and I have work in the morning. So Ranari, Chisei.

Chisei: Please enjoy and review. Even though no one probably will review.

Kyandi: Chisei!

Ranari: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis. She would turn it into one hell of a mess if she did.

Kyandi: Ranari! Why are you guys so mean to me!?

Chapter 6 Jealousy

"Umi, dear! Breakfast is ready!"

Umi looked up when she heard the voice of her house maid. Her mother, who enjoyed her alone time with friends and sleeping in late, was almost always still asleep when Umi woke up for practice and school and was gone with friends to go shopping or having drinks when Umi got home. Instead the maid her mother had hired, had the job of making Umi's breakfast and making sure the girl got off to school without a hitch.

Umi adored the maid, Minaki, but she would have preferred to have the time with her own mother. That was something Umi envied Ranari for. The girl was awoken in the morning by her mother and ate breakfast with her mother, and spent as much spare time with her mother as she could. Umi was lucky to see her mother once a week.

Heaving a sigh at this line of thought, Umi grabbed her school bag and tennis bag from where they sat by her desk and left her large bedroom. She passed a maid going about her chores as she headed down the back stair way that the hired help used, avoiding the main stairs in case her uncle was picking up her father for work.

Umi had never gotten along with her uncle too well. Not knowing how he treated Ranari and her mother. She could never say anything to her uncle, of course, or she would have suffered chastisement from both her grandparents and her parents. So Umi just avoided the man.

When Umi entered the kitchen from the back stairs, she found Minaki, her sleeves rolled back, kneading dough for freshly baked bread. The woman was an older woman with graying chestnut brown hair that was currently pinned back into a bun. Her face was lined with laugh lines that branched from her mouth and her usually humor filled caramel brown eyes. Those eyes looked up at Umi as the girl slide into a bar stool across the counter where her breakfast was sat out.

"Your father is in the dinning room. Won't you join him?" Minaki asked.

"Is Uncle with him?" Umi asked.

"Yes, but-"

"I won't." Umi said, unforgiving in her sternness.

Minaki heaved a sigh, shaking her head as she returned to her kneading. She was one of the few that knew the actual reasons behind why Umi avoided her uncle. Minaki didn't approve of the way Umi's uncle had treated Ranari and her mother, but she also didn't approve of Umi avoiding her uncle and treating him badly. As she had told Umi, two wrongs didn't make a right. Umi, in turn, used one of Ranari's favorite retorts...but three rights made a left.

"You really should forgive your uncle, Umi dear. Ranari doesn't seem to be resentful." Minaki remarked.

"Ranari is not a particularly resentful person. She's incapable of resenting the man who helped give her life, but that does not make her any less hurt by his indifference of her. I, on the other hand, am not as forgiving." Umi replied.

Minaki just shook her head once more as Umi ate her breakfast. Minaki had thrown every reason possible at Umi for forgiving her uncle. None had stuck. Umi was going to refuse to budge on her opinions and treat of her uncle as long as he refused to do the same for Ranari.

The sound of her father's and uncle's approaching voices, drew Umi's attention from her breakfast.

"...heard her in the kitchen. You should try to get along with your niece, Toshiro." came Umi's father's voice.

They were coming to the kitchen. Leaving half her breakfast on the plate, Umi jumped out of her seat, grabbing her bags.

"I will see you this evening, Minaki." Umi said lowly, rushing out the back door.

Umi hopped a hedge and cut across the garden to the front drive way where a driver waited to take her father and uncle to their morning meeting. She by passed the car and rushed out the front gate. She had become quite good at avoiding her uncle and was already turning off her street and half way to Tezuka's before her father texted her phone to ask why she had left the house so early.

Her excuse?

_Meeting with the boys' tennis team captain to discuss practice layout._

It wasn't a lie. She did have to meet up with Tezuka to continue to discuss their joint practices, but that wasn't why she had left early. Her father bought it though. Umi shoved her phone into her skirt pocket and hurried about her way. She was early arriving at Tezuka's house and waited outside for him, leaning on the wall that surrounded his house. She stood there for twenty minutes before Tezuka stepped out of his gate, phone in hand as he started a text message.

"If that text message is for me, you don't have to bother."

Tezuka's head whipped up, his eyes landing on Umi. Confusion crossed his face as he snapped his phone close. Apparently the message had been for her.

"Shinkoku. You're early. How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Not too long. I ended up leaving early this morning. I didn't want to disturb you with your family." Umi replied, pushing herself from the wall.

The two fell into step next to each other, silence reining. Neither were really the type to talk too awfully much, though when it came to planning out their joint practices and such, both had plenty to say. Though both of their captain styles were similar, they did differ in a lot of aspects. Tezuka punished his team with laps while Umi punished hers with wall sits. Tezuka started practice with rallies, Umi started hers with personalized work outs.

The one thing they had both agreed on, was that there were things they both did that their teams, together, could benefit from.

"I talked to Safaia last night. She said she, Uiru, Anju, and Ryuzaki have already made their plans for their out-of-school activity." Umi said.

Tezuka looked down at Umi whose eyes were set forward.

"Fuji called and said that he was going to meet Mentaru Sunday for their's." Tezuka replied.

"That leaves Kame, Hana, and Chi-chi." Umi remarked, ticking off the girls on her fingers.

"And us." Tezuka added.

Umi heaved a sigh. She had almost forgotten that they weren't spared from the rules either. They would have to agree on something. Personally she wasn't too concerned, as long as she didn't have to take Tezuka to her house. She did not want to have to explain the relationship with Tezuka to her parents.

"I'm aware. Do you have anything in mind? Because I don't." Umi said.

Tezuka thought about this for a moment. He didn't know much about Umi aside from the fact that she was the female class rep and was a hard worker use to getting her way by putting forth a lot of effort.

"The history museum is opening a new exhibit Saturday. We could go Sunday." Tezuka replied.

Umi perked up at this and looked at him out of the side of her eyes.

"Oh, that caught your attention too? I had heard about it and planned to go next weekend but I don't know who my partner will be then. They might not appreciate it. So that sounds like a perfect way to spend Sunday." Umi replied.

Tezuka nodded. She had agreed quicker then he thought. He had half expected her to argue and turn down everything he came up with. He was thankful that she hadn't. With their plans for the weekend out of the way, the two discussed plans for practice the rest of the walk to school. When they reached the school gate Chisei was standing there with Inui. The latter was talking away while the former shot a glare at her captain as she neared. The moment Umi was in hearing distance, Chisei spoke, cutting off Inui in mid sentence.

"Switch with me. Now." Chisei demanded.

Umi raised an eyebrow as she and Tezuka came to a stop in front of Chisei and Inui. Tezuka shot a questioning look at Inui who seemed confused as he looked down at Chisei. Apparently he had no idea what he could have done to displease Chisei, but the girl was clearly annoyed.

"Is something wrong, Chi-chi?" Umi asked.

"Switch with me now. If I have to hear another bout of theory on how to improve my tennis style from him, I'm going to let Inari break more then just his glasses. I am perfectly capable of improving my own skills, thank you very much." Chisei said, sorely.

Umi heaved a sigh as Inui promptly put several feet between him and Chisei. He obviously feared the girl would carry through with her threat. Umi heaved a sigh.

"Chi-chi, the whole point of this exercise is to get us acquainted with each other. To learn from each other. I'm sure Inui-kun was just offering you some advice. Advice you'd do well taking. So, no I won't trade with you. And you will not have Anju break anything." Umi told Chisei firmly.

Chisei heaved a sigh, her hands going to her hips as she turned her face from them. Umi shot Tezuka a I'll-catch-up-with-you look before taking Chisei by the arm and dragging the girl away. Chisei complained the entire way to the girls' locker room. Umi tuned most of it out.

"I don't need some boy correcting mistakes or weak spots in **my** tennis. I already know what I need to work on. So he can take his data and shove it right up his-"

Umi kicked open the locker room door and tossed Chisei in on her butt, cutting the girl off. Chisei rubbed her abused backside, muttering under her breath. Hana, Sakuno, Kame, Safaia, Inari, and Komiri twisted around to face the two as Umi stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Chi-chi, I don't care that your pride has been pricked. You're a grown girl, and a smart one. Get over yourself. He acts as the manager for the team. Of course he's going to offer you his input. He's just trying to help." Umi told Chisei, looking down at the other girl with a stern look.

Chisei pressed her lips together tightly, knowing better then to argue with Umi. She would end up in a worse punishment then any she had ever gone through before. Umi's word was final when it came matters that involved their tennis team. She wouldn't hear a word in argument.

"You are going to apologize to Inui-kun for how you treated him and I mean today, Chi-chi. In fact, you aren't allowed to leave morning practice, until you have apologized to him." Umi told her.

Chisei frowned but she would do it. She nodded to her captain as she got to her feet, dusting off the back of her skirt. Umi nodded, watching Chisei got to her locker before turning to scan the others.

"Where's Ranari?" Umi asked.

"I called her before you came in. Her mother had a late start this morning so she's running a little late. She was ten minutes from the school when I talked to her." Safaia replied.

Umi gave a nod. It was typical of Ranari to be a little late when her mother had a late start. Usually if the girl wasn't in the locker room by the time all of the rest of them were, one of them called her to see if she was running late or if something had happened. Umi wasn't worried since Safaia had called her.

All of the girls turned back to changing. Umi was pulling her shirt over her head when Ranari walked in, going straight for her locker.

"Are you alright?" Umi asked when Ranari stood next to her, changing from her school uniform to her tennis one.

"I'm fine. Mom has a big meeting today and was a little nervous so she kept forgetting things. I was trying to help her." Ranari replied.

"Alright." Umi said, eyeing her cousin.

The others looked at each other before turning to watch the two cousins. Ranari seemed a little...off today and Umi obviously had picked up on it, but wouldn't push Ranari for answers. She was all too aware of how stubborn Ranari could be when she wanted to be.

"I trust all of you have made your plans for the weekend." Umi said over her shoulder, instead of trying to pry answers from Ranari.

"Inari and I are going to an amusement park with our partners." Komiri said from where she was helping Inari to tie her shoelaces.

"Eiji-kun and I are going to see a new movie!" Safaia said cheerfully as she secured the ties on her pigtails.

"Our little Sakuno is going to the tennis shop and then the street courts with Echizen." Komiri said in a teasing manner as she looked at Sakuno, who turned red in the face and just turned back to tying her shoes.

"I'm going to one of my father's lectures today after practice. The tall one if going with me." Chisei retorted, obviously meaning Inui to be "the tall one".

"Oishi-kun and I are going bowling. Seems we both like to bowl." Kame said idly.

"Taka-kun is going with me to do my volunteer work at the local community garden. Should be fun." Hana said as she secured her hair into a pony tail.

"I'm not sure what we're doing, but Fuji-sempai is coming over Sunday." Ranari said, brushing her fingers over the buttons on her shirt to make sure they were done up while Kame helped her to tie back her hair so none of the strands would come loose.

"What about you, Umi?" Safaia asked, grabbing her bag.

"Tezuka-kun and I are going to attend a new exhibit at the History Museum." Umi replied.

Now all changed, the girls grabbed their bags and headed out to the courts. The boys were already gathered on the courts. The girls split off to join their partners after setting their bags down, and the two teams started stretching. Umi and Tezuka kept a close eye on their teams as they stretched. Chisei was giving Inui a hard time, and Komiri and Inari were still having a hard time dealing with not being able to be each other's partner, but aside from that, the two teams seemed to be dealing well enough.

Kame and Oishi treated each other with politeness, Sakuno blushed a lot not that Ryoma noticed, Hana and Taka got along splendidly, so did Eiji and Safaia for that matter, and Ranari wasn't giving Fuji nearly the amount of trouble she had given Tezuka when he had taken over practice the day before.

That in itself was a miracle.

Once stretched, Umi and Tezuka turned to the clip board in Tezuka's hands. Umi looked over the results of the Doubles' matches from the day before. Fuji and Ranari had sat out under Umi's orders, which left Ranari none too pleased with Umi. Umi knew she wouldn't be able to repeat the order today without there being serious back lash from Ranari. To see how Ranari would handle playing with Fuji, Umi had suggested all partners play a Singles match against each other. The number of loses and wins had been pretty even between the two teams.

Kame had won her match against Oishi, Safaia had lost by tie break with Eiji, Hana had lost her match against Taka, Chisei had won her match against Inui, Inari had won her match against Momo, Sakuno had been demolished by Ryoma, Komiri had barely won her match with Momo, and Ranari had lost to Fuji but by a small amount. Umi and Tezuka hadn't been able to finish their match and had been about even.

Since Ranari had handled playing against Fuji quite well and would only continue to learn as she played with him, Umi would sit out the Doubles matches with Tezuka and let Ranari and Fuji play. Though she would still be keeping a close eye on them.

Tezuka had asked her, only once during practice the previous day, why she was so cautious about Ranari but not the others. Umi had refused to give him an answer. He hadn't pressed but he knew something was up. It wasn't just Umi that watched Ranari. Every girl, aside from Sakuno, kept a close eye on Ranari and not just during practice.

During school the previous day, Tezuka had noticed that all of the girl regulars would drop by Ranari's classroom during breaks, would track her with their eyes if she got up during lunch to do anything, and would be right at her side if she went down or up stairs. None of them would explain it and Ranari pretended not to notice them hovering.

Answer or not, Ranari was apart of Umi's team and therefore Umi's orders regarding the girl's participation in practices, stuck.

"Alright everyone, we'll be starting with Doubles matches again today. Chisei and Inui-kun will play Kaido-kun and Uiru, Kame and Oishi-kun will play Taka-kun and Hana, Momoshiro-kun and Anju will play Kikumaru-kun-"

"Call me Eiji!"

"-and Faia, and Echizen-kun and Ryuzaki will play Fuji-kun and Ranari." Umi annoucned, ignoring Eiji's interruption.

"Thank you!" Ranari exclaimed, happy to finally get to play in the Doubles matches.

Umi ignored that out burst too. She directed everyone to their courts and took two of the courts while Tezuka took the other two. Of course, as Tezuka knew she would, Umi insisted on watching Ranari's match and ended up spliting her attention between the match between Fuji/Ranari and Ryoma/Sakuno and the match between Momo/Inari and Eiji/Safaia. Tezuka knew he was going to have to have a conversation with Umi about her hovering with Ranari.

For now he focused on his matches.

On one side he had Chisei and Inui facing Kaido and Komiri. Neither pair were very good together. Chisei and Inui constantly butted heads about what they deemed was the right judgement of their opponent. Chisei claimed to know Komiri and Inui claimed to know Kaido, and neither could agree on the best way to attack the two. That meant they collided quite a few times.

Kaido and Komiri on the other hand, fought more then Momo and Kaido did and it all started when Kaido made the comment that Komiri was being an idiot and, in retaliation, Komiri served her next serve into the back of Kaido's head.

Tezuka heaved a sigh. Of course Komiri would have to receive punishment for using tennis to hurt someone, especially her own teammate and Kaido would be punished too for turning around and calling her a name that wasn't nice. Komiri had turned around and tackled Kaido, sitting on his back, so he couldn't get back up. She crossed her legs and arms and gave a curt nod in satisfaction with herself. Chisei and Inui stopped their arguing long enough to help Tezuka get Komiri off Kaido.

"Cease acting immature, Komiri, and remove yourself from his back!" Chisei told Komiri.

"Why should I? He called me a bad name!" Komiri replied.

Kaido hissed from where he lay under Komiri. Komiri ignored him.

"Uiru, get off him and take twenty laps." Tezuka told her.

Komiri looked like she was about to argue but she caught the look Umi was shooting her from across the courts and flew to her feet, taking off to run the twenty laps. Tezuka offered Kaido a hand up, pulling the boy to his feet. Tezuka sent Kaido to run twenty laps too and set Chisei and Inui to playing a Singles match between each other.

Tezuka went back to watching the other Doubles match between Oishi/Kame and Taka/Hana. These pairs were getting along better, teamwork wise. Oishi and Kame made a decent pair and could morph into a good pair if they continued to work on it. Taka and Hana tried, they really did, but with both of them being power players, they had too much power between the two of them to properly work out a form of attack. Against two solid players like Oishi and Kame, they lost the match quickly.

At least Tezuka knew that Oishi and Kame would be a good possible pair for the upcoming matches. Umi was still watching over her matches so Tezuka set the pairs to trade off doing rally practice with each other. Tezuka joined Umi then watching the matches.

On one side was Momo/Inari and Eiji/Safaia, on the other was Fuji/Ranari and Ryoma/Sakuno. Much like Taka and Hana had too much power between the two of them, Eiji and Safaia had too much energy. The two made it work, but their partnership was too unstable as it was. Momo and Inari though, much to Umi's and Tezuka's surprise, worked well together. Momo was usually very spirited in his tennis while Inari was more stable, running Eiji and Safaia to wear them out while Momo drove home the final shots. The two were good together. Another possibility for the Doubles matches.

On the other side, the match was a little humorous. Ryoma was growing a little impatient with Sakuno. The girl was trying and as long as she didn't focus on the fact that she was playing with Ryoma and as long as she didn't focus on her mistakes, she did pretty well of keeping up with Ryoma. Ryoma on the other hand, still sucked at playing Doubles.

With Ranari and Fuji, it was different. Ranari was still getting use to Fuji as her partner and there were times take she yanked up short, afraid she would crash into him. Fuji was patient with her and helped as he could. Given time and work, the two could be a solid pair. Umi watched the two like a hawk, her muscles tensing every time it looked like Ranari might crash into Fuji.

Tezuka had to talk to Umi, he knew. Her obsession with Ranari was becoming more obvious the more he was around her. He knew they were cousins and Umi probably cared a great deal for her cousin, but that didn't mean Umi could focus so intently on Ranari that she forgot about the rest of her team. Especially not now that the future of their club rode on their progress. When practice was over, Tezuka caught Umi on her way to class.

"Shinkoku." he called out.

Umi turned to him, the whistle around her neck swinging on it's chain. She looked up at him with a questioning look in her orange eyes.

"What is it, Tezuka-kun?" she asked.

"I need to speak to you. About Mentaru." Tezuka told her.

Umi's eyes turned sharp and she glanced around to make sure the others had all gone ahead. No one was lagging behind, everyone ready to get to class after a hard morning practice. Sure that the coast was clear, Umi turned her eyes back to Tezuka.

"What about Ranari?" Umi asked.

"Is there something you aren't telling me? You watch her like a hawk. I understand that she causes trouble but you and the other girls even keep a close eye on her when she's just walking down the hall." Tezuka replied.

Umi shifted her weight from one leg to the other, her hands going to her hips.

"Ranari is the youngest of us and very talented. She can be a bit of an accident waiting to happen. Of course we watch her. No point in letting her get herself hurt and taken out of matches before we even reach the tournament." Umi replied.

Tezuka had a feeling that that wasn't the whole truth. Umi was hiding something, but if he pushed the conversation he was sure that Umi wouldn't handle it well. She seemed the type that didn't like prying. When she said that was it, that was it. He would have to take her words at face value until he could find out if they were completely true or not.

He eyed Umi, who had set her jaw stubbornly. He wasn't going to get anything else out of her in the way of an answer, so he moved on.

"Whatever the reason, as the captain, you need to remember that you have more teammates then just Mentaru. Focusing on her so intently will lead to neglect of the rest of the team." Tezuka told her.

"I'm well aware of that, Tezuka-kun. I don't need you to tell me how to do my job as the captain. I will keep your words in mind, but try to remember that I know my team better then that. Even if I do happen to focus more on Ranari, who causes me more trouble then the others, I have made sure that I can do so without my team falling apart." Umi told him.

With that she turned on her heel and started to walk away. She didn't get ten paces away before she turned back to him.

"By the way, Tezuka-kun, when Uiru acts up like that, she's suppose to run no less then forty laps. You went too easy on her." Umi told him tartly before walking away again.

Tezuka got the feeling that the girl had meant the last comment as an insult to him. Heaving a sigh, he followed her to class. At least she didn't resort to the same methods as Komiri.

-0-0-0-0-

"Okuyona-chan!"

Kame turned, pausing in the middle of the hall as she headed to the school store to buy a drink for her lunch. Coming towards her, slipping between people with an apology, was Oishi. Kame adjusted her glasses as he came to a stop next to her.

"Oishi-kun, I've told you to call me Kame. I never have been fond of my surname and am much more use to people calling me by my given name." Kame told him.

Oishi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sorry about that." he told her.

"And stop apologizing. You do that too much." Kame added.

"Sor-"

"Oishi-kun, what did I just say?"

Oishi cut off, but there was a smile on Kame's face as she looked up at him and he couldn't help but smile back. When they had first met and been paired, the relationship had been rocky, and there were still times when Oishi was sure that Kame didn't much like his presence, but they got along fine enough. Kame was actually pretty nice when she was by herself and she even had a bit of a habit of teasing him in an almost flirting manner.

"Its a habit." he told her, falling into step next to her.

"So I've noticed. Did you need something?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to eat lunch with me. We can discuss our plans for tomorrow, more." Oishi said with a smile.

Kame shrugged. She didn't see a problem with it. Unlike some of his teammates, Kame actually liked Oishi. Most of the rest of his team were loud or overly annoying. Granted some of her teammates were the same way, but when it came to them, she was biased.

"Sounds fine to me. Faia and Ranari are going to be eating with me. Which means Fuji-kun will show up too." Kame told him.

"Eiji will be with me, so it's fine. Is Shinkoku-chan not going to join you?" Oishi asked.

"Since Ranari is with us today...no. She'll probably eat with Hana and Chi-Chi. So she'll also be eating with Tezuka-kun, Taka-kun, and Inui-kun." Kame replied.

"That's right. Shinkoku-chan won't hang around Mentaru-chan outside of tennis." Oishi remarked lowly.

"No she won't. You really should stop calling Ranari by her surname. She really doesn't like it. You've seen how she is normally. You don't want to see her displeased." Kame told him.

Oishi blanched at the idea. Ranari on a normal day was hell. At least five times during practice she had to do something to someone, rather it was giving Tezuka a hard time, or causing one of the boys, or even her own teammates, to trip over a stray ball. The girl surprisingly had remarkable timing when it came to rolling the ball into the way of others' feet.

"Noted. It surprises me though. Shinkoku-chan and Men-"

Kame gave Oishi a look, raising an eyebrow at him and he changed what he was saying mid-way through.

"-Ranari-chan, get along so well during practice sometimes. Almost like sisters. Why doesn't Shinkoku-chan just explain that to her parents?" Oishi asked.

"It's not that easy. It's not just Umi's parents. It's her grandparents and then there's her uncle too." Kame replied.

"Her uncle? Ranari-chan's father?"

Kame nodded.

"They expect a lot out of Umi, expect to have a perfect family, and Ranari doesn't fit in their image of the perfect family that they want to project to the public. A daughter out of wedlock. The scandal apparently would be too much for the family, so they basically forbid Umi from having anything to do with Ranari." Kame told him.

"Then how did she recruit Ranari-chan?" Oishi asked.

"Well Ranari and Umi had originally met at a street court when Umi wanted to play tennis with normal kids instead of spoiled brats at a country club. Ranari had been the queen of that court, even though she had been the youngest there. Ranari was five at the time and Umi seven. When Umi realized who Ranari was, she started going every chance she had. Ranari didn't want anything to do with her."

The amusement in Kame's voice showed on her face as she ordered her drink. She paid the student working the counter and the two moved on to where they would meet Eiji, Safaia, and Ranari for lunch.

"What changed?" Oishi asked.

"Umi utterly defeated Ranari. Obviously she was the first person to do so since Ranari had started playing. Ranari became obsessed with beating Umi and worked hard to do so. Umi offered her help, seeing the natural talent Ranari has. During that time they grew close. When Ranari was to start middle school, Umi sneaked over to her house and suggested, or rather demanded, that Ranari should go to Seigaku and join the tennis team."

"And Ranari-chan did." Oishi said.

Kame nodded. Umi's and Ranari's story had been pretty popular with the team when they had first met Ranari back when she was a pig-tailed, anti-social first year in middle school. Since then a lot had changed, but the story was still pretty popular among the group of girls.

"And you? Do you have any siblings?" Oishi asked.

"I have an older sister. She's a cook. I actually live with her since my parents still live in Abashiri. Moving in with her was the only way my parents would let me continue going to Seigaku once I started high school." Kame replied. "And you?"

"I'm an only child, but Eiji is around enough that I might as well have a brother." Oishi told her.

"Faia is the same way. Those two are cut from the same cloth for sure. How they manage that amount of energy is beyond me." Kame said, a smile on her face.

"It certainly keeps you in shape to have to keep up with them." Oishi agreed.

They two had stepped outside by this point and Eiji, Safaia, and Ranari had just come into view. Ranari was standing between the two as they chattered on about something. Ranari just stood there, smile on her face, as if the two amused her. They probably did too. But as they got closer they realized that Safaia and Eiji were chatting, but arguing with Ranari who obviously wasn't listening to them. Then Safaia caught sight of Kame.

"Kame!"

Safaia waved a hand over her head as she hopped on one foot, a frown on her face. Eiji waved too, gesturing for Oishi and Kame to hurry up and join them. Ranari gave them her signature, two finger salute in greeting. It was then that Kame noticed a red bump on Ranari's forehead, bruising already spreading from the area. She sped up her steps until she was gripping Ranari's chin, tilting the girl's head back to look at the bump.

"What happened, Ranari?" Kame asked.

"That looks like it hurt." Oishi added as he looked over Kame's shoulder.

"I just fell is all. You know me, I'm accident prone." Ranari replied.

Safaia snorted, hands going to her hips. A sudden look of anger flashed over her already tense face, which was rare to see on Safaia, who was usually cheerful all the time.

"Fell? She was pushed. We were walking down the hall and a girl came up behind her and pushed her. Before Ranari could catch her balance or we could catch her, she slammed into a wall head first. I tried to catch her though." Safaia said, honestly sorry that she hadn't caught Ranari.

"I'm fine." Ranari insisted. "It's just a bump."

"I tried to go get her ice, to get her to go to the nurse, but you know Ranari. Stubborn as a mule." Safaia remarked.

Kame took her drink from her bag and held the still cold can to the bump. Ranari flinched but didn't pull away.

"Yes well, I'm her vice-captain and she's going to listen to me. Faia, go get some ice. Umi's going to flip when she sees the bump. Even more so since its already bruising. I don't want to be there when Aunty Tsukina sees this. You know your mother, Ranari. She's going to have a cow." Kame said.

Ranari frowned as Safaia bounced away. Kame didn't look too happy as she pulled the can away to look at the bump.

"You know how dangerous head injuries are for you, Ranari. Seriously, you shouldn't blow it off. You could have a concussion." Kame remarked.

"I haven't got sleepy and it's only given me a mild headache, Kame. I know the signs of a concussion when I feel one and I don't have one. I'm fine." Ranari insisted.

Oishi and Eiji looked at each other.

"Should I get the nurse?" Oishi asked, not liking how concerned Kame had grown about the injury.

"N-"

"Yes. We'll take her now." Kame said, over riding Ranari.

Ranari scoffed and muttered a low, "Worry wort" under her breath. Kame ignored it as she tugged Ranari after her wrapping a firm grip on Ranari's arm to make her follow. The moment Ranari kicked into motion it was revealed how off her balance was as the girl stumbled and almost fell over. Kame hooked her arm under Ranari's to keep her up, hurrying her along. Oishi and Eiji followed. The met up with Safaia as she was coming back with a baggie of ice wrapped in paper towels.

"Hold this here." Kame told Ranari, making the girl hold the ice pack to her head.

"I got it. Jeez, you treat me like a child." Ranari replied.

"Maybe you shouldn't act like one. You can barely stand up straight. Umi is going to flay you alive."

Ranari stuck her tongue out at Kame, proving the point Kame had been trying make. Kame shook her head and heaved Ranari after her. When Umi found out she was going to be livid.

-0-0-0-0-

Livid was an understatement.

When Umi had been told that Ranari was in the nurse's office with a bump forming on her head and her balance suffering from the head injury, the girl had stormed out of her class, Tezuka making an excuse to the teacher that it was an emergency involving one of their teammates before following her. Kame and Oishi were in the nurse's office when they arrived, having sent Eiji and Safaia back to their classes.

"What happened?" Umi demanded.

"A girl shoved her and she crashed into a wall head first. Faia couldn't catch her in time and Ranari hadn't been able to gain her balance back." Kame explained.

"I said I'm fine already!" came Ranari's voice from the other side of a curtain.

The curtain parted and the nurse stepped out, looking back over her shoulder where Ranari sat on the bed. The bump on her forehead was still visible, and the skin was darkening further into a bruise.

"Whatever you may feel, concussions can sneak up on you, Ranari-chan. As per doctor orders, as well as your mother's orders, I have to call your mother to come get you." the nurse told her.

"This is ridiculous. I'm going to miss tennis practice because of this!" Ranari retorted sourly.

"It's better safe then sorry, Ranari." Umi told her cousin, her voice softening as she took hold of Ranari's face and made her look up so she could look at the bump. "Aunty Tsukina would be heart broken if something happened to you."

Ranari's mouth twisted into a frown.

"But tennis practice!" Ranari protested.

"You can come back Monday morning. But only if the doctor clears you. Aunty Tsukina will agree with me and I'm sure Tezuka-kun does too." Umi replied, Tezuka agreeing with her.

Ranari heaved a sigh.

"Look at it this way, even if you have to stay home the rest of today and tomorrow, Fuji-kun is suppose to meet you at your house tomorrow anyway. He can keep you company." Kame said from behind Umi.

"But-"

"No buts, Ranari." Umi said sternly. "Do you know how much it would hurt Aunty Tsukina and I if something happened!? If it really is a concussion, you could die! No buts!"

Ranari finally closed her mouth and just agreed. Umi heaved a relieved sigh and turned to the other three.

"You three go back to class. I'll wait with her until Aunty Tsukina gets here." Umi said.

Instead of arguing with Umi over her own rule about being seen with Ranari outside of tennis practice, the three left. Umi turned to Ranari, hands on hips.

"Honestly Ranari, what are we going to do with you?" Umi asked.

"Love me because I'm so darn adorable?"

Umi had to fight not to laugh at that one. Ranari may drive her up the walls at times, but Umi really did love her cousin. If only her family could see the little diamond in the rough that Ranari was. One way or the other, Umi would make them see.

Ranari deserved better.

-0-0-0-0-

"What!?"

Silence fell over the courts as everyone turned to look at Umi. Umi had a grim look on her face as she faced the two teams.

"Ranari will not be back to practice until Monday. The doctor said she doesn't have a concussion but it's better safe then sorry. She'll be remaining at home for the rest of today and tomorrow." Umi told them.

"What happened?" Hana asked, concerned.

"Some random girl shoved her from behind today and she hit her head on a wall." Safaia piped in.

"Who would do that?" Momo asked.

"It was one of Fujiko's fangirls." Eiji said.

Fuji raised an eyebrow as attention turned to him for a moment. His fangirls must have seen Fuji and Ranari spending more time together and must have gotten jealous over it. He hated that they took it out on Ranari though when she was just following Umi's and Tezuka's orders.

"She'll be fine, right?" Fuji asked Umi, turning to her.

Umi nodded firmly.

"She'll be fine. Aunty Tsukina just decided it was better that they not take a chance. It left a nasty bruise and bump on her forehead. You'll have to go her house to keep her company." Umi told Fuji.

Fuji nodded. Perhaps he would stop by the flower shop she lived over and pick up some flowers for her. After all, if he was right behind the reason the girl had shoved her, then it was a little his fault too.

"For now, we'll get to practice. Fuji-kun, you'll be running rallies with Tezuka-kun and I." Umi said.

The others split up, heading for their Doubles matches. Tomorrow would be Sunday and they would all be off on their required partner activities.

For today, they were all just glad that Ranari was fine.

END

Kyandi: Drama, drama, drama.

Umi: That seems to be the case with quite a few teenage girls.

Kyandi: Oh boy do I know that.

Chisei: Sadly drama seems to increase the amount of appeal in a story.

Kyandi: Very true!

Ranari: Doesn't make it hurt any less.

Kyandi: Sorry. Anyway, it's late, I'm tired, lets wrap this up.

Kame: Please enjoy and review.

Hana: We will be back soon!

Kyandi: Bye!


	7. Getting Know Each Other Part 1

Kyandi: Howdy everyone!

Umi: We apologize for taking so long.

Kyandi: I lost internet for the longest and still haven't gotten it back.

Kame: We're posting from the public library.

Kyandi: It's not ideal but it works. Please bare with us. I swear I'm not giving up on my stories.

Ranari: So please enjoy and review.

Safaia: We love reviews!

Kyandi: Yes we do! So please review.

Inari: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 7 Getting To Know Each Other Part 1

Sunday morning found Taka trailed behind Hana as the girl lead the way through a mass of people and through a back door. Hana, who did volunteer work at a soup kitchen on Sundays, had brought Taka with her. He was more then happy to help her. Several people milling about waiting for the food line to open, called greetings to Hana, who waved back with a wide smile on her face. Children ran by and waved to her, while others stopped and begged sweets from her. Hana, with a sly smile, pulled several pieces of candy out of her pocket and handed it over into excited little hands.

Grateful mothers threw her smiles as their children ran by, already shoving the candy into their mouths. Hana waved back as Taka came to a stop at her side.

"That was kind of you." Taka said.

"Most of the people here are single mothers who can't afford to treat their children to even a small, simple piece of candy. I never come here without a couple of bags of it in my bag." Hana replied.

She gave Taka a sweet smile before turning and pushing her way through a swinging door. Several people bent over pots and pans, looked up when she walked in, Taka on her heels. Two men and four ladies were hard at work cooking and putting together plates as well as carry-out bags for people to take with them when they left.

"Hana! Good to see you again, girl!" one old man called from where he was stirring something in a large, silver pot.

"Hey, Michirou-san. I brought some help with me told. His father runs a sushi shop so don't be afraid to put him to some cooking." Hana said, gesturing to Taka who gave the people a sheepish smile.

Here, in this soup kitchen, Taka realized that Hana had a lot more confidence. She wasn't stuttering anymore and was shy like she was when they were at school or practice. He only saw her that way when she was with the other girls.

"Well then, bring yourself over here, boy. You can help me while the ladies put Hana to work baking." one burly man called from where he was chopping vegetables.

Taka did as told, leaving the women to usher Hana over to another station where she was instantly put to work making cupcakes for the children. The two worked diligently, Taka finishing before Hana. The women moved the plates to the serving line and started handing them out to those waiting while Hana finished up her cupcakes, icing the latest batch.

"Here, try one, son. Hana's pretty good at making them." one man told him, holding out a cupcake.

Taka took it, taking a bite. The chocolate, chocolatechip cupcake was light, fluffy, and delicious, topped with vanilla icing.

"These are good, Hana-chan!" he said.

"Thank you. They should be. My father owns a string of cupcake bakeries. But he doesn't usually let me help there." Hana replied.

"Why not?" Taka asked.

"Hana's good at baking but when it comes to normal meals, she sometimes ends up burning it and starting a fire, so her father thinks she's bad at baking too." one woman said as she grabbed a tray of the finished cupcakes and hurried back to the serving line.

"Whenever I cook at home or in the bakeries, my dad makes me so nervous. He expects everything to be just right. It's easier to not correct him now. Leaves me with more time for tennis." Hana explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You seem to love baking though." Taka remarked.

"No, I love helping others, making them smile. The cupcakes are just a means to an end, you know." Hana said with a smile.

He understood. Hana was a natural people person. Even if she was shy. She liked to help others and generally very sweet and supportive. In a team of girls who were all either aggressive, fierce, or hard as iron, it was surprising. Even Safaia had her moments when she was fierce, and Ranari was just flat out too much to handle at times. Sakuno was the only other one on the team that wasn't that way.

Not that it was a bad thing. The two kept their more aggressive teammates balanced, even if they were out numbered.

"You certainly get along with the kids well." Taka remarked, helping her to move trays of cupcakes now that she was done icing them.

"Children are easy. I have two younger brothers. Twins, eleven years old. With Dad in the bakery all day and Mom busy with her seamtress jobs, I'm usually the one that takes care of them." Hana told him.

"That has to be quite a handful." Taka remarked.

"Not really. They're pretty good. At least, they are when I'm watching them. It's better then Koko. She had three little siblings. Two brothers ages twevle and five and a sister, age eight. Her dad is a police officer and works all night and her mother is an interior decorater and usually has late meetings. Koko usually takes care of them." Hana replied.

"How does she juggle that with tennis?" Taka asked.

"Well the oldest, Toshiro, watches the other two while Koko is at practice and the rest of the time, she does it with a lot of help from Inari."

Taka sat his tray down on the counter and turned to take Hana's from her. The girl handed it over to him with a smile.

"Uiru-chan and Anju-chan sound close." Taka remarked.

"They always have been. When Umi got them to start going to Seigaku, they kind of latched onto each other. Been inseparatable since." Hana replied.

"Shinkoku-chan recruited all of you right?" Taka asked.

"Right."

"How did you meet Shinkoku-chan?"

Hana paused to remember, thinking back on the day she had first met Umi. Umi had been smaller then since it had been their first year in middle school. Hana was still pretty much the same size as she had been at that age and had been far stronger then most. Back then Hana had been clumsy with her strength and had broken a lot of things, frequently. Tennis had been a way for Hana to use that strength in a controlled manner.

Hana hadn't seen the little, business-like girl with the fire for eyes that had watched all her matches that day, until Umi had approached her at the end of one of her tournaments. Even at the age of twevle Umi had used a lot of big words and had been prim and proper. A few years around people like Inari, Komiri, and Safaia had eased some of that stiffness Umi had back then.

"Well, when I was in grade school I had played in a lot of tournaments. I had always been stronger then most of the other children and with how clumsy I've always been, I broke a lot of stuff. Tennis has always been a way for me to use that in a productive way. It seemed to be the only time when I actually had control on it, you know. Anyway, Umi approached me after one tournament where I had taken second place." Hana explained, picking up another tray to take to the serving line.

Taka followed, perfectly able to imagine a clumsy Hana, knocking things over much like the ball basket she had tipped over when they had first met.

"Back then Umi had been really small, smaller then Ranari small, but she had been really prim and proper. She's eased up a bit since then, but even then, she had a fire in her eyes. She explained to me that she wanted to build a team. A strong one. One that would eventually take us to Nationals. She said she wanted to show the world what true strength was. She had already had Kame and Chisei by then. She knew what she wanted and that passion, that fire, was infectious. I agree. My father had just opened a bakery in this area and thought it was an amazing chance for me, so we moved here. I joined the team. It was slow going at first. I mean none of us knew each other."

"I can imagine that being a little tough." Taka remarked.

"Well all teams are like that at one point, right?" Hana asked.

"Right."

Taka set his tray down, removing two empty ones so Hana could sit hers down too. The cupcakes were going fast, little kids running off with icing already smeared on their faces as they basically devoured the things.

"We got past that awkward state though. At first it was just Umi, Kame, Chisei, and I, but then Umi found Faia in Kawazawa. Umi knew she would pair well with Kame and me, and even Chi-Chi. That took us to five. We won Regionals that area, but coudn't make it past the first round of Nationals. Before that year was out, Umi found Koko. Koko had been a high hitter in the tournaments around her home town. Umi had taken one look at that rebel girl and knew she would be perfect for our time. Before the start of the next school term, she had also found Inari. Like I said, Koko and Inari latched onto each other and we discovered they were great in Doubles. We made it to the semi-finals in Nationals that year." Hana said proudly.

At this point, the two were tasked with laddling out more soup for the plates. Taka would pour the soup into the bowl and Hana passed it on down the line to the woman putting together the trays.

"And the next year Shinkoku-chan found Ranari-chan?" Taka asked.

"Oh no! Umi always knew she wanted Ranari for our team. Even before she started gathering the rest of us. Ranari's a little devious thing when she wants to be and she can be painfully irresponsible and immature, but when Umi calls, she comes running. The girls' middle school tennis team won Nationals that year with Ranari bringing in the final win with Singles 3." Hana told him.

"And you haven't won since." Taka remarked.

"The high school's girls' team hasn't wone in almost two decades. We could have made it last year if our captain and third years hadn't lost their matches. Our captain even forfeited her match." Hana told him.

"Shinkoku-chan was angry?"

"Umi was livid. She tried to get our captain to give it a second go, but she had given up. Umi felt so betrayed then. Now she's working even harder to keep our team afloat." Hana said on a sigh.

Taka knew how Umi felt. His third year in middle school they had all worked hard to win, Tezuka even going so far that he had hurt his shoulder.

"We're all working hard to get through this tournament." Taka told her.

Hana heaved a sigh as she passed on the bowl he had just filled.

"Yes, but that's not going to do a thing if we can't work together." she replied.

"We'll be alright, Hana-chan. It'll just take a little time to get use to each other. This idea of Shinkoku-chan's and Tezuka's will go a long way to helping with that." Taka assured her.

"I hope you're right, Taka-kun. I really do."

-0-0-0-0-

"Strike!"

Kame pumped her fist once as her bright green bowling ball smashed right through the center of the bowling pins, sending the pins smashing into each other with a resounding crack. She always loved it when the ball rolled just right and took down all of the pins. It was a satisfaction that only winning a tennis match had ever caused her and she turned to Oishi with a smug grin on her face.

Oishi smiled at her, taking his bowling ball in hand. It was fun to watch Kame whenever she made a good connection with the pins. She would pump her fist in the air and maybe even do a little jump. He was starting to get the feeling that if she managed to win the game, she might even do a little dance. Oishi didn't put it past her.

"That was a good hit, Kame-chan." Oishi told her.

"You're not suppose to congradulate the opponent, silly boy." Kame told him lightly, teasingly shaking a finger at him.

Since it was just the two of them she had slipped into a teasing manner easily. It was easier when her teammates weren't around, constantly dividing her attention between keeping them in line and worrying about fights breaking out between Komiri and Inari and whatever boy they happen to be mad at.

"It's sportsmanship to congradulate your opponent." he replied, lining up for his shot at the pins.

"Are you calling me unsportsman-like?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course not." Oishi replied, a tiny blush on his face.

"You're blushing again, Oishi-kun." Kame pointed out just as he released his grip on the ball.

Oishi jolted at having the blush pointed out and his ball flew off course, barely clipping four of the outer pins. Oishi turned his eyes on Kame who was grinning brightly. He knew she had done it because she knew it would cause him to slip up. When his eyes landed on her, she crossed her legs, folded her hands neatly over her knee, and gave him an innocent little smile as he took up his ball for his second try. If there was one thing Oishi had learned about Kame in two days of being her partner, it was that while most of the time she was serious, almost no nonsense with her team, when she was on her own, she had a playful side that he couldn't help but smile at.

He liked this playful, teasing, relaxed side of Kame a lot better then the stern, second-in-command tyrant that she was on the court. Though that side of her had a function that it served well, he didn't like to see her wound up and stiff as she usually was at practice.

He hadn't thought this side of her to be possible until that first lunch they had together. It had just been the two of them, both wanting to get a feel for the other without their teammates around to complicate things. Kame had been weary at first but the more he talked to her, the more relaxed she became until she had started teasing him, which had caused her to laugh when he started blushing. Oishi liked her smile. He didn't see it nearly enough when she was being the almost cold, unsmiling version of herself on court.

It was almost like it was two different girls and he was sure, if he had to switch quickly from one to the other, it would give him whiplash. Oishi was positive that she was only that way at practice and around her teammate because most of the time, at least one of them was causing trouble of some sort. Whether that trouble was Komiri fighting with Kaido, or Ranari causing everyone trouble, or even Safaia and her deviating attention whenever she saw someone, anyone, she deemed cute.

Kame jumped to her feet, snagging her ball as she passed him. She offered him a smile but no apology. He didn't expect one. She was only playing with him that was all. Oishi took a seat to watch her as she eyed the pins down the lane.

"Kame-chan, can I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Feel free."

"How did you meet Shinkoku-chan?"

Kame pondered her shot for a moment as she thought back to when she had met Umi. It had been the winter of her fifth year of grade school. Winters in the Hakkaido region were pretty cold and Kame had almost always gone to an indoor court to warm up with a hard match. Umi had showed up one day, trailing behind her father who had been in the area and was checking up on the sports facility he owned. The same one Kame used.

Kame wasn't sure how long Umi stood there watching her, those sharp orange eyes intent. All Kame knew was when she had finally finished her third match, Umi left her father's side to introduce herself. Kame remembered that at first she had thought she was dealing with a very small adult because Umi had used a lot of big words, had been prim and proper, and talked in a way that made Kame feel like she should have been sitting in an office meeting rather then standing on the side of a tennis court.

It amused Kame to see Umi now. Especially when she had Ranari at her side.

"Well, as I know Hana told you, I came from the Hakkaido Region. Abashiri to be exact. Winters there are really cold. It was my fifth year in grade school and I had been using an indoor court of a sport facility that Umi's father owns. Her father had been there that day, checking up on things and Umi had been tagging behind him. She had stood there for the longest, watching me play match after match and when I stopped she introduced herself. Back then it kind of annoyed me, the way Umi acted all prim and proper." Kame explained as she swung her arm back and let the ball fly.

The candy apple green ball smacked the pins, knocking out all but two. Kame's brow furrowed for a moment as she turned to wait for her ball to spew out of the machine.

"She explained to me that she was building up a strong team and wanted me to transfer to her school. I kind of thought it was insane then. I mean I had been born and raised in Abashiri. I had never entertained the thought of leaving and then there was Umi offering me a chance to. Seigaku was suppose to have a really good tennis program and my parents have always encouraged me to try my best. When I explained it to them, they agreed that it was a good chance and sent me to live with my sister who had just gotten her own apartment. I joined Seigaku as the first of her recruites."

Another crash announced the meeting of ball on pins, the two remaining pins sent bouncing off each other as she gave another little fist pump.

"So you were the first." Oishi repeated.

"Yeah. It's probably why I've always been her vice-captain. Even when she wasn't the captain during our first and second years in both middle school and high school, I was always her second-in-command." Kame replied, letting him take his turn.

Oishi took up his ball and turned to face the pins. He couldn't imagine how unsettling it had to be to move all the way to the Kanto region when she had grown up in Abashiri her whole life. But she had done it for Umi, for tennis, something he admired.

"Have you always been Tezuka-kun's second-in-command?" Kame asked.

Oishi couldn't help the fond smile as he thought back to when he had met Tezuka their first year in middle school.

"I suppose so. There was a time when I thought I wasn't going to be able to be." Oishi remarked as he bowled.

"Why?"

"There was a time, in our first year of middle school, that he was going to quit. Until our captain at the time, got ahold of him of course, and convinced him elsewise. And then there was his shoulder injury in our third year, that had him out for a while." Oishi replied, taking his pins out in a strike.

"I remember hearing about the shoulder injury in middle school. Everyone was a buzz about the great boys' captain being out for treatment. Umi had been pretty sure that he wouldn't be gone long. Then the next thing we knew, you boys had won Nationals." Kame replied as she took her last turn.

"You girls won Nationals that year too, right?" Oishi asked.

"We did. We had Ranari that year and she gave us that final punch we needed to get past Semi-finals. I kind of wish the school board would look at that, at what we accomplished that year when we were together. They would know that we can do it and wouldn't be putting all this pressure on us. The girls already have a lot of pressure on them." Kame replied.

Oishi nodded, watching her knock her pins out with a strike. Kame joined him on the cushioned bench as their final scores were tallied. Kame let out a cheer, doing a small dance on her spot when it showed that she had won, if only by six points. Done with their game, they two ordered lunch.

"Well Umi and Tezuka-kun said we needed to get to know each other. I'd say we've got it covered." Kame remarked.

Oishi wasn't so sure. There was still a lot about Kame that he didn't know. He knew where she came from and that she lived with her older sister, he knew that she had come to Seigaku because of Umi and that Kame was a competent vice-captain. He knew she liked to bowl, that her favorite color was green, and that she liked fried meat and leeks. He knew all of that but most of it he had come across himself, not because she offered the information.

"I don't think it's us we have to worry about." Oishi remarked.

Kame heaved a sigh. He was right, she knew it. With three others, there were so many things that could go wrong. Komiri could decide to finally take out Kaido and Momo while they were at the amusment park they had passes for, Chisei could decided that she was better off without Inui which meant she would make the boy "disappear", or Ranari could decide that Fuji would benefit meeting the Doctor or another of her strange pets or tactics.

"Everyone just has to get use to the idea of working together. I think our biggest issue at the moment is Koko and Inari. They don't handle being separated very well and Koko's temper gets short. Contrary to popluar belief, Inari's not all that violent. She can be a bit aggressive when mad but it's usually Koko that will get hands on. As we saw at practice yesterday." Kame said, bringing up Komiri tackling Kaido on the court.

"We'll have to keep a close eye on her, won't we?" Oishi asked.

"Yes we will."

"And Ranari-chan?" Oishi asked.

"She'll calm down and taper off the trouble making...eventually. I think only her first two or three partners will really get any trouble from her. Though I don't think she'll try that hard with Fuji-kun. He doesn't seem the type easily affected and if she can't get to him, she'll give up." Kame replied.

That was good to know. As long as Fuji didn't let anything get to him, he would be safe in the household of Mentaru Ranari. Oishi didn't know about her next partner though.

"You wouldn't happen to know who her next partner would be, would you?" Oishi asked.

A grin curved Kame's lips as she sat her drink aside.

"Worried it might be you?"

"Only a little." Oishi admitted.

Kame laughed at this.

"Sorry, but I don't. Umi is keeping it under lock and key. I think they just do a drawing each time. Umi hasn't shared that with me." Kame told him.

"Tezuka doesn't share with me either." Oishi told her.

"Well I guess we'll find out tomorrow then. Whoever he is...best of luck to him. He's going to need it."

-0-0-0-0-

Things couldn't possibly get anymore awkward. Komiri and Inari walked side by side, arms linked. To Komiri's left, was Kaido and to Inari's right, was Momo. Since they had met up at the train station, neither girl had spoken much to the boys simply because they couldn't think of anything to say to them. The four had just arrived at the amusement park and had been met at the front gate by an older man in his mid to late twenties. Inari had introduced him as her step-brother, Asato. Busy with a ride in the making, Asato hadn't been able to talk long and, after handing over the passes, he gave Inari a kiss on the head before taking off.

Now the four were walking the park, trying to decide which ride to go on first. Of course that would be easier done if they were talking to each other.

"What should we ride first?" Momo asked, trying to break the ice.

Komiri and Inari looked at each other. They knew that if they didn't attempt to get along, Umi would be angry and no one wanted to deal with an angry Umi.

It wasn't pretty.

Heaving a sigh, Komiri glanced around. Her eyes landed on a rollercoaster that tossed it's riders unside down, twisted them in loops, and sent them rocketing down steep hills. It was the kind of ride that both Komiri and Inari liked and usually went for first.

"That one. Right Inari?" Komiri said, pointing at it.

Inari looked up at the rollercoaster just as the boys did. Her eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. Kaido and Momo glanced at each other, neither wanting to be deem a chicken by denying the two girls. In the end, they ended up in line for the ride and, when it was their turn, Momo ended up straped in next to Inari, Kaido next to Komiri.

"Ready for this, Viper?" Komiri asked, adopting the name most used for him.

Kaido glanced at her, noting the large grin on the girl's face. For a day at the amusement park, Komiri had tied her orange-red hair back in a pony tail, her bangs shagging out over her forehead. The purple, over-the-head headphones were still in place around her neck, as they usually were, and she had paired it with a stretchy, red tank top with a hoodie thrown over, jeans, and calf high boots with buckles up the sides.

When she caught his look in her direction, her grin widened until it resembled that of the one on the cat that got the canary.

"What, scared?" she asked.

Kaido hissed at her, managing to make her laugh.

"I'll take that as a shut-the-hell-up." Komiri remarked.

He wished she would do it, then. Komiri sat back in her seat, grinning like a fool. Ahead of them Inari had an eyebrow raised in questioning as she watched Momo.

"Uncomfortable?" she asked him.

"Just ready to get going." Momo said turning to her, a grin on his face.

Inari couldn't help grinning back at him. At least her partner this time didn't have a fear of rollarcoasters. Would have been a shame since she loved them. She faced forward just as the ride started inching forward. She heard the exicted squeak from Komiri and braced herself as they inched upward into a sharp incline. At the top they paused.

"Get ready for the drop, Viper." Komiri told Kaido, right before the ride shot forward, dropping down the sharp decline.

Inari and Komiri let up similar squeals of laughter, both of them throwing hands into the air. Kaido gripped at his restraints, gritting his teeth and Momo let out a yell. The four were thrown upside down, rocked from side to side, and there were several times that Kaido let like his stomach would either go up in his throat or bottom out. Komiri and Inari squealed in delight, Komiri making sure to keep one hand on her headphones so they wouldn't fly off and get lost somewhere in the park below. When they were swung upside down, Komiri's pony tail whipped out to smack Kaido.

Komiri and Inari were laughing uncontrollably by the time the ride stopped, and, being in a much better move, they dragged the boys to the next ride. This one had them sitting two to a pod. While the pod spun them one way, the ride spun them the other. Komiri was stumbling all over the place like a drunk fool, giggling to herself, when they got off. Inari had to grab her hand to keep her from crashing into anyone. Komiri insisted on riding that ride again and when they got off, Inari had a bad need to go to the bathroom. She shoved a dizzy and giggling Komiri at Kaido.

"Keep an eye on her. You better not let her get hurt, you hear me? I'll be right back." Inari told him, her tone and expression promising pain if he failed her.

When Kaido nodded, she took off for the nearest bathroom. Komiri giggled as she staggered around. Kaido caught her arm just before she collided with someone and yanked her back.

"Watch what you're doing, you idiot." he hissed at her.

"Hehe! I can't watch anything when everything is spinning!" Komiri replied, making the two boys sweat drop.

"Maybe now would be a good time to sit down and have lunch." Momo suggested.

Kaido agreed for once. He wasn't sure he could take much more of the weird looks people threw their way because Komiri had to act like she was drunk.

Or high.

He didn't like either actually. Komiri was crazy enough without everyone around them thinking she was drunk or high.

When Inari returned, Momo suggested lunch to her while she held on to the back of Komiri's shirt to keep her from stumbling off.

"Yeah, sounds good to me. This one needs to sit for a while anyway. She loves crazy rides and being tossed all over the place by a rollar coaster, but when she gets dizzy, it takes forever for her to see straight again." Inari remarked, jabbing a thumb in Komiri's direction.

Komiri draped herself over Inari's shoulder, almost missing and falling flat on her face. She grinned at Inari when she looked over her shoulder at her.

"It's just one of my many quirks that you love." Komiri said goofily.

"You're just lucky you're cute or I'd trade you for a guy." Inari told her.

Komiri made a face as Inari dragged her after her towards one of the many vendors spread out through the park. Kaido and Momo, still a little weirded out by Inari's and Komiri's relationship, followed after the girls. All four ended up getting something different to eat; Momo burgers, Inari Mexican food, Komiri corndogs and chili fries, and Kaido sushi.

The four found an empty table and sat to eat. By the time they got through the long lines, got their food, and sat, Komiri had been over her dizziness.

"Not too bad of a day so far." Komiri remarked, mixing mustard and ketchup to dip her corndogs in.

"Not really. But we're staying away from any kind of boat rides." Inari said firmly.

Komiri sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. The boys looked up from their food to watch the two girls.

"Why?" Momo asked.

"Komiri gets seasick. Even if it's not a boat on water and just boat shaped, she gets sick. I made the mistake of going on one of those large boat-shaped, swing rides with her once and she puked all over the people in front of us." Inari told them.

"I apologized. I didn't know my seasickness extended to boat-like rides." Komiri replied.

"That didn't help the poor couple who ended up with a repeat appearance of your lunch down the back of their shirts." Inari retorted.

"Yeah, I agree. No boat rides." Momo said, Kaido agreeing with him.

Neither wanted to wear Komiri's lunch of corndogs and chili fries. It looked good going down, but they didn't want to see it coming up.

"Whatever. Lets just get back to our rides!" Komiri cheered, jumping to her feet.

The others followed at a slower pace, finishing off their food as they went. Momo and Kaido had to admit, Komiri and Inari weren't that bad once they got to know them. Perhaps it really was possible for the two teams to get along.

Perhaps.

END

Kyandi: It took a while to write and then to update, but I hope you all like the first round of the "dates".

Komiri: Uh, excuse you? Dates!?

Kyandi: It's a figure of speech.

Inari: It better be.

Safaia: I agree! This is **not** a date.

Kyandi: I get it, I get it. Jeez! I was just joking.

Ranari: You can't joke with them about this stuff.

Kyandi: So I've noticed. Everyone please enjoy and review.

Umi: We will be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye, bye!


	8. Getting To Know Each Other Part 2

Kyandi: Hey everyone, I'm back!

Ranari: She's been overly busy.

Kyandi: Yes, but I'm attempting to update all of my unfinished stories.

Umi: Which means that if there is another story of hers that you like, more than likely, it'll be updated soon as well.

Kyandi: I have most of them done and am working on the others.

Kame: So look forward to it.

Kyandi: Right! So without any further ado, everyone enjoy and review.

Ranari, Umi, &amp; Kame: Kyandi-sama does not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 8 Getting to Know Each Other Part 2

"I **loved** that movie!"

Eiji, a smile on his face, watched Safaia as she swayed back in forth, walking out of the theater. People crowded off the side to avoid colliding with Safaia. Eiji gave them apologetic smiles before rushing to catch up with Safaia. As ordered by their captains, they had planned an out-of-school activity and had gone to see a movie both of them had been waiting to see.

"For an American movie, it was great." Safaia said. "Harley is just the best!"

As a fan of anti-heroes, when Suicide Squad had been released in theaters, Safaia had insisted on going. Eiji had thought the movie might be interesting and the two had agreed to make that their activity. It had turned out to be better than Eiji had thought. It had it's funny moments and it's sad and serious moments.

"You would just want to hang out with her because she causes a lot of chaos." Eiji remarked playfully.

"Well, yeah, but it doesn't hurt that she's hot! You have to admit that with that kind of girl in your life, your life would never be boring or dull." Safaia told him.

Though he was growing use to it, it was still strange to hear a girl refer to another girl as hot. Safaia was not shy about sharing her opinion on what she thought of guys and girls alike. If she found them hot, she said so. But, that wasn't what went through his head after she spoke.

"I already have a girl like that in my life." Eiji remarked.

Safaia turned to him, her expression a mix of confusion and curiosity. She blinked up at him with wide blue-grey eyes.

"Huh? Who?" Safaia asked.

She obviously hadn't gotten it. When he had said he already knew a girl like that...he had meant Safaia, herself. Granted, she wasn't as crazy as Harley could act, but she had her fair share of crazy, chaos filled moments. Since she hadn't gotten it, he decided it would be best to just let it drop. He might end up angering her if he told her he had meant her.

"No one you know." he told her.

"Aw, poo! That sucks." Safaia replied easily.

He was so glad she trusted him enough to just take the answer and not push the subject. Safaia continued to bounce off down the sidewalk, her hands clasped behind her back.

"So what should we do next? I'm hungry. Are you hungry? I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat." Safaia said, talking fast.

Eiji laughed as he followed her. They agreed on a nearby fast food place and went to get food. Once they were sitting, Safaia instantly pulled the strawberry milkshake she had ordered, to her and took a large drink, sighing in content afterward.

"Hey, Faia?"

Safaia looked at Eiji, raising an eyebrow in questioning. There was something Eiji had always wanted to ask, but had never gotten the chance to.

"You don't like Tezuka, do you?" Eiji asked.

"Not one bit!" Safaia shot back instantly.

Okay. She had replied back so quickly and with so much heat in her tone that no one would mistaken her for joking around.

"Why?" Eiji asked.

"Last year, during our over night class trip, he stepped on my bag...and crushed my quick-make, to-go cup of macaroni and cheese!" Safaia declared.

Eiji stared at her with wide eyes. **That** was a reason to hate someone? Safaia stared back at him with a pout on her face. To her, it was a very good reason to dislike someone. Especially since Tezuka hadn't offered to replace it.

"It's just macaroni and cheese." Eiji said.

Safaia gasped like she had just been slapped in the face. Her hand flew to her heart and she sank back in her chair like she was about to faint. She couldn't believe he had just said that. It hadn't been **just** macaroni and cheese. Safaia loved her mac and cheese. For someone to ruin one of her precious to-go cups of it...just thinking about it made her angry.

"**Just** macaroni and cheese!? You obviously don't understand. It's one of the world's greatest culinary confections! You'd be crazy to ruin even a small to-go cup and not care. He ruined mine and didn't even bother to offer to replace it! That man is mean and heartless!" Safaia declared, all but in tears as she dropped her face onto the table.

Maybe bringing up the topic hadn't been a good idea.

When he had asked, he had kind of expected it to be something different. A year of animosity over a cup of macaroni and cheese? How strange and immature could Safaia get?

"Uhh...have you ever tried just talking to him? I'm sure he doesn't even know what he did." Eiji told her.

"How could he not know!? I was so excited that my dad had bought me some cups to take with me and I had even made the comment that it was my last cup!" Safaia said, her face still laying on the table.

"Tezuka doesn't really pay attention to what others say if its not directed at him or about something concerning him." Eiji said, sheepishly scratching the side of his head.

In that aspect, Tezuka and Ryoma were a lot alike. Both could be incredibly single minded if they wanted to. Though Tezuka tended to think past just tennis, it certainly took up most of the teenager's thoughts and time.

"I don't wanna talk to him!" Safaia pouted.

"I'll do it if you want." Eiji offered.

Safaia looked at him with big, doe eyes, her eyes shining. She almost looked like a child that had been told they were getting a new bike for their birthday.

"Really!?" she asked.

Eiji nodded. He was sure that once Tezuka knew he had done something wrong, that he would at least apologize to Safaia and if there was just a little less tension between the boys and girls, then that would be great too. Safaia, with a squeal of happiness, threw her arms around his neck, hugging him.

"Aw, Eiji, you're the best!" she told him.

Eiji blushed, but he was glad to be of help. He liked Safaia, as well as a few of the other girls. Umi scared him, Komiri and Inari kind of weirded him out sometimes, and Ranari was a little trying, but they were all pretty okay. Safaia released him and settled back into her seat. The two chatted as they ate. Finally, Eiji asked a question he was sure his teammates had probably asked their female partners, too.

"Hey, Faia."

Safaia, her straw hanging out of her mouth as she tried breaking up a clot of ice cream in her milkshake, looked up at him. One of her eyebrows shot up in questioning.

"How'd you get recruited?" Eiji asked.

Safaia dropped her straw back into her milkshake and sat it away from her.

"You mean, how'd I meet Umi?" she asked.

"Yeah. We've all been curious since we learned that all of you came from all over Japan." Eiji told her.

"A lot of people ask that same question, though, so it's not a big deal. I met Umi shortly before I started middle school. My dad is an accountant, a really good one too. Umi's dad did business with the guy he worked for and I had gone to work with my dad one day when Umi's dad was there. He had Umi and her older brother with him and had left Umi with me." Safaia said.

"How did it come to talk of tennis?" Eiji asked.

"My dad worked for a tennis club, so, while we waited, we went to play a little. I was always allowed on the courts. She liked my tennis style and told me about her desire to make a strong team. Invited me to come to Seigaku. My mother was about to get transferred into the area anyway, for work, so when we moved here, I enrolled into Seigaku." Safaia told him.

"Just like that?" Eiji asked.

"You don't get it. Umi...even back then, Umi had this presence. You just couldn't deny it. When she walked into a room, even with adults around, she instantly became the center of attention. And then there was that little business man attitude she had. I knew she needed to relax and to be honest...I kind of fell in love with Umi when I first met her." Safaia admitted.

"Seriously!?" Eiji asked.

He couldn't imagine falling in love with someone like Umi. Yeah, she was okay, but she was so strict and almost always seemed to be wound up so tight it was like she was tied in a loop. Not to mention that getting her to smile was a chore in and of itself. Safaia, thought, just grinned.

"Umi, despite how strict and demanding she can be, has always been nothing but kind and considerate to me and to our teammates. She has a great love and passion for her friends as well as tennis. But it doesn't matter. Umi's a really close friend now. While I do still love her, its in more of a sister way now. Not to mention I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with that crush anyhow. She's straighter than a board." Safaia told him. "We all have our reasons for accepting Umi's offer to come to Seigaku and join her team, but most of us all have one reason in common."

"Which is?" Eiji asked.

"Acceptance. Umi accepted us all for who we are and what we're capable of. We all have our quirks and she's more than willing to accept it all. After all...those quirks are what make us who we are, right?" Safaia replied.

Eiji nodded with a smile on his face. Safaia had a point. Being accepted for who a person was, was a good reason for accepting an offer that would move a person half way across their country. Not everyone found acceptance, especially if their quirks were strange enough. For Safaia, not many people could or would accept the fact that she liked both guys and girls. Umi, once the center of Safaia's affections, had accepted her without a second thought. In return for that acceptance, Safaia had taken her offer.

Eiji believed, at that point, that he had a little bit of a better idea of who Safaia was at least.

And that was one step closer to a lasting friendship.

-0-0-0-0-

"You're elbows are still too far apart."

Sakuno, in her rush to correct this, tripped and missed the ball Ryoma had served to her. For the last hour they had been at this. After visiting the sports shop early that morning, they had gone to the nearby tennis courts where they had started to just warm up. Those warm ups, however, soon turned into Ryoma correcting something about her style, her trying to fix it, and them starting all over again.

Already it was closing in on lunch time and Sakuno was almost sure that Ryoma could hear her stomach growling. She didn't think she could keep going if she didn't get something to eat soon. As if realizing that, Ryoma glanced up at the sky, noting that the sun was directly above them, meaning that it had to be around noon.

"Let's get something to eat." he called.

Sakuno gratefully followed him to a bench where their bags sat. She was grateful she had thought ahead and had made lunches for them. Ryoma went to get drinks while she pulled out their lunches.

"Here." Ryoma said simply, holding out a cold can drink from the vending machine.

"Thanks." she told him, taking it.

Ryoma sat down facing her and picked up his lunch box. It made Sakuno remember the first time she had ever made him lunch. That had been back in middle school. She, Ryoma, Tomoko, and three of Ryoma's friends had gone to a tennis club where one of the boys' dad worked. Sakuno had made lunches for them back then and when she had asked Ryoma what he thought about the food, he had replied back that it was horrible. She now knew that he hadn't even heard the question back then and had been talking about the form of a tennis player he had been watching.

She kind of felt silly now about her over reaction back then. Not that Ryoma remembered it anyway. If it wasn't tennis related, the boy didn't notice a thing. Point in case...

"You need to keep your elbows closer to you." Ryoma said idly as he ate.

"Yeah, I know." Sakuno replied back in a depressed tone.

Ryoma glanced up at her as she picked through her food. She heaved a sigh as she wondered why Ranari had suggested her. Ranari had given her the reasons behind her choice, but Sakuno couldn't help thinking that Ranari was just being nice to her.

"You're doing better, though."

Sakuno looked up at Ryoma in surprise when the boy spoke again. Ryoma was focused on his food, not looking at her, but she knew he had been talking to her. A blush colored her cheeks as she dropped her eyes back down to her food.

"R-really?" she asked.

"Somewhat. You still have a long way to go." Ryoma told her.

It was better than him telling her she was out right horrible and it made her feel warm inside. Most wouldn't consider it praise but she couldn't see it as anything but praise. The two finished up their lunch and were just about to start playing tennis again, when loud voices sounded. Loud laughter reached their ears, making them both turn towards the entrance of the courts.

A group of about five older boys who could have been third years in high school or college age, came into sight. All carried rackets and came into the courts laughing between each other. They stopped when one of them spotted Sakuno, who was on the side of the court nearest to them. Sakuno felt a chill go up her spine when all five boys smirked in her direction. The leader of the group straightened his back, jammed his hands into his pockets, and headed in her direction.

"Well, look what we got here boys. Cutie here is a tennis player." he said, stopping at Sakuno's side to drape an arm around her shoulders.

He pulled her into his side, holding her there with a tight grip. Sakuno tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let her.

"Let go of me!" Sakuno told him.

"Oh, don't be that way, cutie. Come play with us. We'll treat you nice." he told her, grinning into her face.

There was no way in hell she was going anywhere with him or his friends. She placed one hand on his chest, trying to push herself out of his grip, but he was too strong for her. Just then there was a slight whistle in the wind then a dull thud followed by a grunt of pain and a curse from the boy holding onto her. The guy released her, pressing both hands to his forehead as he cursed. Sakuno quickly backed away from him, noticing a tennis ball rolling across the court.

Sakuno whipped around, turning her wide eyes on Ryoma, who was bouncing another ball, ready to serve it at the guy as well. As the guy's friends came over to check on their friend, Sakuno hurried around the net to Ryoma's side.

"What's up with you, kid?" one of the guys asked, turning a glare on Ryoma.

"She told him to let go." Ryoma replied back idly.

"Why you-!? I should beat the crap out of you!" the lead guy, the one Ryoma had hit, growled.

While Sakuno was pretty sure Ryoma was confident in his own ability to take care of himself, there were five of the guys and she was scared he would get hurt. Running might be their best idea. Sakuno took hold of Ryoma's wrist, a blush staining her cheeks, and yanked him after her as she started running. Ryoma protested, but Sakuno simply scooped up their bags and kept running. When the group of guys came after them, Ryoma easily took the lead and was soon the one dragging **her** behind him.

Despite having protested when she first started running, he was sure picking up the pace now. Sakuno was barely keeping her feet under her as they ran down one street and up another. They were just beginning to pull ahead of the group of guys when they rounded the corner and ran into the last pair of people they had thought to come in contact with on this Sunday. Ryoma yanked up short, causing Sakuno to ram into him from behind, propelling him forward into none other than Inui and Chisei.

The four went down in a pile of limbs and complaints. Somehow, Inui ended up on the bottom, with Chisei in his lap. Sakuno ended up in Chisei's lap with Ryoma draped over Chisei's knees behind Sakuno. Chisei opened her mouth to snap something as she corrected her glasses. When she corrected her glasses and found Sakuno's face just a few inches from hers, she snapped her mouth closed on whatever she ahd been about to say.

"Sakuno-chan? What are you and Echizen-kun doing here?" Chisei asked.

"Running. There's some guys chasing us." Sakuno replied quickly, glancing over her shoulder.

Chisei's brow furrowed as a displeased look came over her face. Inui on the other hand was busy trying to push the girls and Ryoma off of his lap. They were crushing him in ways that was completely uncomfortable. If it had just been Chisei, he would have been fine, but adding in Sakuno, Ryoma, and their bags and Inui could already feel his thighs going numb. Chisei caught onto the fact and decided to have some mercy on the poor guy. She helped Sakuno and Ryoma off her lap and got up before turning to help Inui up. Once they were all back on their feet, she turned to Sakuno.

"Someone's chasing you?" she asked.

Sakuno nodded. Loud yells sounding from around the corner followed by the appearance of the guys chasing them, had Sakuno diving behind Chisei. Ryoma didn't seem inclined to hide. The guys came to a stop upon seeing Inui and Chisei with Sakuno and Ryoma.

"Are you the ones that are chasing my teammates?" Chisei asked, thrusting her chin in the air to look at the guys.

"So what if we are, cupcake?" the leader asked, one cheek turning black and blue with a bruise.

What Chisei did next, completely shocked, and even scared, her teammates. Despite wearing heeled boots and a skirt, she rolled up the sleeves of her sweater, readjusted her glasses, and charged in, anger making her expression dark. Later, Sakuno had to wonder just how weird her life with her teammates had to be that watching Chisei give grown guys wedgies, wasn't more strange than it had been. Inui swore he would try his best to never anger Chisei again.

After the guys took off running, or rather waddling from the massive discomfort of the wedgies, Chisei turned to her friends, dusting her hands off. She glanced at her watch.

"As much fun as this has been, my father's lecture starts in an hour and a half and I don't want to be late." Chisei said.

Inui snapped to attention, agreeing instantly. Chisei nodded, liking that he was listening to her. She turned to Sakuno and Ryoma then.

"Perhaps the two of you should head home for today." Chisei told them.

"Right." Sakuno agreed.

While she liked spending time with Ryoma, after being chased and all the practice they had put in that morning, she was ready to get home. Ryoma agreed and the two set off for home. Chisei watched them for a minute before turning to Inui.

"Come on. Father likes to speak with me before he starts a lecture that I'm attending and I told him I would be bringing you." Chisei told him.

Inui nodded. He had found out that both of Chisei's parents were college professors. While her father taught foreign liteature, her mother taught advance alegbra. Her older sister was currently attending the very college her parents taught at for a degree in bio chemistry. It seemed that Chisei wasn't the only smart one in her family and from what she had told Inui, she would often attend her parents' lectures, putting her on a higher level when it came to liteature and math.

The two hurried about their way, entering the campus with forty minutes to spare. Several of the college students they passed, greeted Chisei. They even passed a young woman with honey brown hair, the same pink-purple eyes as Chisei, and the same face, minus the glasses. She waved to Chisei and gave her a wink when she saw Inui beside Chisei. Chisei turned up her chin at her and continued on, leaving the other woman to laugh behind a hand.

Inui took it that that was Chisei's older sister, Keiko.

Chisei didn't even bother to stop and talk to her sister, just continued on to the lecture hall where her father would be holding his class. People were already sitting in the rows of seats but Chisei bypassed it all to go to the very front where a man was getting his materials together.

"Daddy."

The man looked up when Chisei called out. Like Chisei, his hair was black, though his was peppered with silver at the temples. His face was kind, laugh lines creasing the corners of his mouth and eyes. Unlike Chisei and her sister, thought, his eyes were a dark, emerald green. He wore a pair of glasses, a gray dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a tie that was quickly and messily done. He smiled when he saw Chisei.

"Hey, honey." he greeted.

Chisei wrinkled her nose when she saw her father's tie. There were some days when her mother had to leave the house before her father. If Chisei and her sister weren't home, it usually left her father to tie his tie on his own. Something the man just couldn't figure out.

"Oh, Daddy...your tie is all crooked." Chisei said in displeasure.

The man chuckled as Chisei stepped up to him and gestured for him to stand straight. He did as directed, raising his chin to let her fix his tie.

"You certainly are all about perfection." he told his daughter.

"Not perfection, Daddy. But a straight tie goes a long way to making you look presentable instead of sloppy. How are you suppose to gain the respect of your students if they think you can't even be bothered to learn to tie a tie?" Chisei asked.

"But I can't be bothered to learn." he told his daughter.

"Doesn't mean you have to look like it. There. All straight." Chisei said, stepping back.

Her father adjusted it a tiny bit, getting a dirty look from his daughter. Instantly his hands went into the air, away from the tie. Chisei nodded before turning to Inui.

"Daddy, this is Inui Sadaharu-kun. The boy from the boys' tennis team, I told you about." Chisei siad.

"Ah! The insufferable know-it-all. Nice to meet you. I'm Kagayakashi Keisuke." Mr. Kagayakashi said, shaking Inui's hand.

Insufferable know-it-all? Inui glanced at Chisei, but she didn't seem remorseful in the least for her comment. Her father saw the look and chuckled. He clapped Inui lightly on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about anything she says. She likes to come off being more mean spirited than she actually is." he told Inui.

"Daddy." Chisei said in a warning tone.

Once again, her father's hands went up in the air in surrender. With a curt nod, Chisei turned on her heel and went off to find a seat. Inui was at a lost seeing the kind of relationship between Chisei and her father.

"Take it from her old man...she's not all that bad. A little strict and high handed at times, but it's just because she knows how she wants things to be. There's the saying, "Happy wife, happy life", but I've found that sometimes, having a happy daughter determines rather your life is happy. Just don't back down and you'll gain her respect. That's more valuable than gold with her." Mr. Kagayakashi told him.

He gave Inui a wink and waved him off. Inui joined Chisei, who raised an eyebrow at him as soon as he sat down.

"What did my father say to you?" Chisei demanded.

"Nothing." Inui replied.

Chisei had a look of disbelief on her face, but Inui didn't answer her. He had a feeling that she wouldn't be too happy with what her father had said. There was no point in putting her father in the dog house too. When he continued to not answer her, she heaved a sigh.

"Fine. Keep your male secrets." she said sourly.

Inui glanced at her. She had leaned back in her seat and had her arms crossed over her chest. In her pouting state, her bottom lip had begun to poke out. She was actually kind of cute while pouting. Nothing like the tyrant she had been since they had been paired as partners.

"I have a question for you." Inui said.

Since they had time before the lecture started, he might as well get the answer to the question that all of his teammates had been asking. Chisei glanced over at him and heaved a sigh.

"Let me guess, you want to know why I decided to take Umi's offer and move from Okayama to Tokyo?" Chisei asked.

Inui nodded. Except for Ranari, who had lived only a mere forty-five minutes to an hour from Tokyo, all of the other girls had at least an eight hour trip between where they lived now and where they had lived before Umi had recruited them. They had made some seriously changes to accommodate Umi's wishes.

"Good question...and one I don't really have an answer to." Chisei replied.

Inui stared at her in surprise. Chisei was the type that almost always had an answer to any question asked her. For her not to have an answer to this...it was strange. Chisei though, leaned forward, folding her arms on the desk top in front of her.

"I don't really know why I agreed. I guess because my parents were about to start teaching here? I was already going to be in the area. It's a little odd to me, to be honest. I mean, when I first met Umi...I hated her." Chisei remarked.

"You hated her?" Inui asked in shock.

No one, looking at Umi and Chisei, would think that Chisei hated Umi. Yeah, they had their disagreements, but the two seemed to be friends just as close as the others.

"Yeah. You believe Umi to be strict now? She was on a whole other level back then. When Umi started recruiting, she took it so seriously. Kame came first, of course. That's probably why she's always been Umi's second in command. They were in their fifth year of grade school then. A little over a year before we entered middle school. She found me in the spring after that, just after I had started my sixth year of grade school. When I first met her, I couldn't help thinking, "Gods, this girl is so stuck up". I felt like she was looking down her nose at me." Chisei explained.

And now Chisei was the one that looked down her nose at others? How had that played out? Inui was puzzled but he was storing this all away as possible data to be used later on.

"My school had hosted a sports tournament and, of course, I had taken part in the tennis section of the tournament. Umi had been in the area with her father and brother and when she had heard about the tournament, she had looked at it as a chance to find promising players. Her caretaker had brought her. The moment my match was done, she out right demanded I join her team. Of course, I refused her instantly, but even now, you can't tell Umi no. She refuses to accept it. So she made a bet. One match. If she won, I would join. If I won, she would repay me for the time she had taken up. I thought, "Why not? It can't hurt."." Chisei said before heaving a sigh.

"You lost." Inui stated rather than asked.

"Yes." Chisei grudgingly admitted.

"And you joined Shinkoku-san's team." Inui said.

"Yes. For the first year of our relationship I continued to hate Umi." Chisei said.

"What changed?"

"I did."

Inui looked at her, blinking in surprise. Chisei saw the look and gave him a shrug.

"I realized that the only reason I disliked Umi was because my pride had been hurt when I lost to her. I admitted that Umi had simply been the better player and that if I wanted to avoid that kind of situation ever repeating itself, than I needed to be a better player. Under Umi's command, I have grown. And obviously, my parents think attending Seigaku is the best thing that has ever happened to me. So, I guess, it's partly because of my parents, partly because of my bruised ego. Whatever the case was, I am here now and I will continue to follow Umi for however long she ask me too." Chisei told him.

"You're quite devoted." Inui remarked.

"Not nearly as much so as Ranari. Come hell or high water, there is not a single force on this planet that could keep Ranari from being there for Umi when she needs her." Chisei told him.

From what Inui had seen, all of the girls were devoted to Umi, just like he and his teammates were devoted to Tezuka. Seemed they had more in common than they knew.

"Everyone take a seat."

Chisei's father called out just then, putting a stop to the conversation. Inui knew it was probably going to continue to be a bit of a rocky road, especially where he and Chisei's relationship was concerned, but it seemed that Umi and Tezuka got one thing right.

Forcing them to spend time together, made them learn about each other.

Maybe that would help.

-0-0-0-0-

"...nkoku...Shinkoku."

Umi jolted slightly as a voice suddenly broke into her thoughts. She had spent the last ten minutes staring at an Egyptian exhibit that had been set out and hadn't heard Tezuka until he had repeated her a name a few times. She turned to him, letting him know he had her attention.

"I'm sorry. I was distracted by the exhibit. Did you say something?" she asked.

Tezuka raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. They had met early that morning, Umi rushing down her street to meet up with him at seven in the morning. He hadn't been sure why she was in such a hurry when the museum didn't even open for another hour, but she hadn't given him time to answer. She had rushed him along. They had arrived at the museum with twenty minutes to go before it opened. So they had simply went down the street to grab something to drink while they waited. Once inside, Tezuka had watched as Umi lit up like a child in a candy store.

Since then, they had been constantly on the move, moving from one exhibit to the next. After so long, Tezuka was ready to get something to eat.

"I suggested we get something to eat. There's a cafe next door." Tezuka repeated.

"Oh. Yes, that sounds good." Umi agreed.

In agreement, the two turned and started trying to work their way through the crowd towards the exit. Since it was opening weekend for a new exhibit, there was a large crowd and they got bumped around quite a bit. There was even a moment when Tezuka lost sight of Umi for a moment before a small hand suddenly grabbed his sleeve and she pulled herself out from between two pairs of couples. She bumped into him, continuing to hold on to his sleeve.

"Sorry, but I believe I'm going to have to hold on to you for the time being. Elsewise, we'll lose each other." Umi told him, not looking up at him.

Tezuka just agreed. Umi wasn't short, by any accounts, but he was sure he would lose her in the crowd if she didn't hang on to him. Umi stayed close to him as they slipped between people. It was going alright, until they reached the stairs. In favor of holding onto the rail, Umi released his sleeve. Tezuka ended up getting a little ahead of her and when he turned around to look for her, it was just in time. Six or seven stairs from the bottom, some shoved Umi and she came flying down the steps. Tezuka caught her before she could get hurt, setting her right on her feet.

"Thank you, Tezuka-kun." Umi told him.

"You're welcome. Come on." Tezuka said.

Without a single thought about it, Tezuka took her hand in his and gently pulled her after him. This way, he wouldn't lose her again. Umi felt her cheeks heat slightly, but pushed it back, refusing to look like a blushing little girl. They managed to make it out of the museum without any further incident, but even once they were outside, Tezuka didn't release her hand. It took her saying something before he even remembered he was still holding it.

"Tezuka-kun."

"Yes?"

"You're still holding my hand."

Tezuka looked down at their hands and upon seeing that she was right, he released her hand. He really had forgotten he was holding it.

"Sorry." he told her.

"No, it's fine." Umi said snatching her hand back to her chest.

The two continued on to the cafe in silence. They didn't say anything to each other even after they ordered and their food was brought to them. Even Umi could tell that there wouldn't be much "bonding" if they couldn't talk to each other, but it was difficult to talk to a boy that never really spoke unless it was vastly important. It was at a moment like this that Umi wished she was more like Ranari. Ranari wouldn't have had an issue getting anyone to talk. It was just another thing about Ranari that Umi was envious of.

"Is something wrong, Shinkoku?"

Umi raised her head to look at Tezuka. Tezuka was staring at her, eyeing her face. Apparently he could tell that something was on her mind. Umi sat her chopsticks aside and leaned back in her chair.

"Nothing, really. I just realized that my cousin would be better suited to this kind of thing." Umi replied.

"This kind of thing? What do you mean?" Tezuka asked.

"I find it difficult to talk to you about random things. Bonding with others has never been my strong point. Ranari, though...she has no issue with it. In many ways, she would have fit into my family better than I do." Umi admitted.

It was hard to admit that since Umi had been the one raised in her family. She had been the one that had received all the training and strictness, while Ranari had led a life completely different from her. Umi loved Ranari, like the little sister she had never had, but sometimes she as just so envious of her.

"You bonded with your team just fine. Even before Mentaru showed up." Tezuka replied.

That took Umi by surprise. She had never stopped to think about that. Umi had never been exactly sure what had drove each of her teammates to agree to move and join her team and they had become the first real friends she had ever had.

"You're right. But boys are different from other girls. Especially when the boy in question hardly ever speaks as it is." Umi said, fixing her eyes on Tezuka.

One of Tezuka's eyebrows shot up. He knew that was directed at him. He wasn't the most talkative of people but he managed just fine. If anything, his lack of conversation skills seemed to draw others to him.

"Perhaps, off the courts, you and I are a bad pairing." Umi remarked, a faint smile on her face.

"That is a matter of perspective." Tezuka assured her.

"Then what is your perspective of this?" Umi asked.

"Every pairing is going to have their challenges. That we are both not inclined to needless conversation just happens to be ours."

"And what a challenge it is. Obviously, some of our teammates don't have that kind of challenge. In fact, I am sure Faia and Kikumaru-kun are driving those around them, insane." Umi said, amused with the thought.

"I have a feeling you might be right. I do have a question for you." Tezuka said.

Umi raised one eyebrow in questioning. Tezuka sat aside his chopsticks as well. It was question he was hoping to finally get an answer to.

"You and Mentaru...why is you pretend not to know each other outside of tennis?" Tezuka asked.

Umi stared at him for a moment, debating how much she should tell him. She was sure the other boys were curious as to the answer too. Apparently none of them could accept the story that Umi's family wouldn't accept Ranari just because she was born out of wedlock. And Umi didn't blame them since there was so much more to the story than that. Finally Umi heaved a sigh. She could tell him a little.

"As you know, Ranari's father and mine, are brothers. Ranari's father, my uncle, is the younger brother. My family is big on appearances since they own and run their own company. That my uncle conceived a child out of wedlock with a woman they saw as being beneath him, was already shame enough for my grandparents. They called the child in question, a sin against their family. It didn't matter to them that it was their own granddaughter that they were talking about. To make it worse, Ranari...was born with a deformity. Something that set her back for years in her early childhood. My grandparents saw it as justification for their claims and demanded that all ties to Ranari and her mother, be cut. Even I was not allowed to have contact." Umi explained.

"But you did anyway." Tezuka remarked.

"Ranari, for all her trouble making, is actually a good girl. She's loyal to a fault and she's actually had a pretty mellowing effect on my team. When I met her, I saw a girl that, despite her short comings and any difficulties in her life, had thrived because she refused to be knocked down. She just doesn't let herself be weak. I knew instantly that, no matter the other players I found for my team, Ranari would be the glue that pulled us together. And I was right. But it was more than that. Ranari, no matter what my grandparents and father say, is family. It's not right what they've done. That being said..."

"You can't outright defy them." Tezuka said, filling in for her when she trailed off.

"Exactly. Not that Ranari wants me to try to change anything. She's perfectly happy as she is. Or so she says." Umi replied.

"And the deformity you spoke of?" Tezuka asked.

"Nothing that will effect how she plays." Umi said instantly.

Tezuka gave her a look and Umi returned it with her own stubborn one. She wasn't going to budge on this. It wasn't her place to tell anyone. Especially since Ranari didn't want her to.

"If Ranari wants you to know, she will tell you. It's not my place." Umi told him.

She had a point, so Tezuka couldn't really argue with her on it. If Ranari wanted to tell them, she would. But then the question became...did the other girls know?

"Don't look that way, Tezuka-kun. If I thought, even for a moment that it would effect the way she plays, I wouldn't let her be a regular." Umi told him.

Tezuka would just have to trust her on this one. It seemed, when it came to Ranari, all he could do was trust Umi's judgment. Though to be honest...he was sure she was more than just a little bias.

-0-0-0-0-

Sunday found Fuji standing in front of the flower shop over which Ranari lived. Since the whole incident with the fall and head injury had basically been because of him and therefore his fault, he figured he would stop by the flower shop first and get Ranari some flowers since she seemed to love the smell of them. The Mother's Love Flower Shop was colored in bright purples, blues, and beige and was over flowing with flowers of various types, sizes, colors, and smells.

A pleasant set of sleight bells were sent ringing when Fuji opened the door. An orange spotted, black cat with vivid orange eyes and a single, white ear, lift its head from where it was curled up on top of a nearby stool. The lone white ear flicked before the cat stood, stretched, and hopped off the stool. Fuji watched the cat strut away as if it owned the shop. Fuji chuckled and headed for the counter where a customer was currently paying the old woman working.

Fuji stepped aside to let the other person pass before turning to the counter. The old woman smiled at him.

"Can I help you, young man?" she asked.

"Yes, though I'm not quite sure what kind of flowers I should be getting." Fuji told her.

"Hey...I know that voice."

Fuji and the old lady looked towards the curtains that covered the doorway to the back room when someone else spoke up. Fuji knew that voice too. The curtains parted and Ranari appeared from the back room, her hair tied back loosely and wearing an apron tied over her clothes. A large bandage stood out stark white against her forehead. She was currently holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Ah! Ranari-chan, do you know this young man?" the old lady asked, as Ranari handed her the bundle of flowers.

"Fuji-sempai is on the boys' tennis team at my school. Remember, Itsumaza-san, I told you about the partner deal Umi and the boys' captain came up with." Ranari told the old woman.

Itsumaza, the old woman, smiled softly at Ranari and pat her on the head. She was careful to avoid the area around the bandage.

"Well then I'll leave him to you. I fear having you around the shears." Itsumaza said.

Ranari made a face, but Itsumaza just chuckled lowly before heading for the back room. Ranari shook her head at the retreating form of the woman before turning to Fuji.

"You're here early, Fuji-sempai." she said.

"Well I was going to buy you some flowers, but it seems you have all the flowers you could possibly want." Fuji remarked.

"Ha! I guess you could put it that way." Ranari said with a laugh.

"So this is the business you said your mother owns?" Fuji asked.

"Yeah. She's always been a sucker for flowers. I guess it's genetic because I love them too." Ranari answered.

Just then, the cat that had been sleeping on the stool when Fuji walked in, jumped up on the counter, looking at Ranari before letting out a loud yowl. Ranari frowned as she turned to the cat.

"What do you want? I already fed you." Ranari told the cat.

In response, the cat padded over to her and started rubbing up against her as if it was seeking attention. Ranari heaved a sigh and started petting the cat, the feline purring in response to the attention. Fuji chuckled. He had never seen someone so put out by petting a cat.

"Beautiful cat. It's your's?" Fuji asked.

"He's sort of the store's mascot. A stray that came by and never left. His name is Spooky." Ranari told Fuji.

"Spooky? Oh, because he's black and orange which is Halloween colors." Fuji replied, thinking he had it figured out.

"No...because he's so quiet he's constantly scaring the crap out of me." Ranari retorted.

Fuji couldn't help laughing at this one. Now he knew why she was so put out. Spooky seemed to purr in pride, as if saying, "Haha, I got you!". Ranari gave the cat one last pet before picking him up and sitting him on the floor.

"Itsumaza-san, I'm heading upstairs now. Will you be alright on your own?" Ranari called.

"Of course, dear! You weren't suppose to be working today anyway. You go and have fun." Itsumaza replied, sticking her head out of the back room.

Ranari nodded and removed her apron. She hung it from a peg behind the counter before rounding the counter, gesturing for Fuji to come with her. Fuji followed the girl as she headed out of the store and around to the stairs. Carefully laying a hand on the guard rail, Ranari lead the way up, digging in her pocket for the key. Fuji paused at her side, noticing that the name tag beside the door read: Mentaru Tsukina/Mentaru Ranari.

Ranari unlocked the door and let them inside. The inside of the Mentaru house was well kept and open. Just about all furniture in the house was against the wall or set to the side, making a wide path for people to pass through. Ranari walked through the livingroom, dropping her key in a small bowl on a table just to the left of the door. Fuji followed her as she lead the way to the small eating aclove beside the kitchen where a glass aquarium sat on the table.

Glancing around, Fuji noticed that everything was labeled, clearing marking what everything was. Either Ranari or her mother had a serious label addiction. Even the chairs were labeled with either Ranari's or her mother's name.

"What's this?" Fuji asked, bending over to peer into the aquarium.

"That's The Doctor." Ranari replied.

"The Doctor?"

Fuji was surprised when a large tarantula appeared from under a fake, hallowed out log. There was a tiny bow tie tied loosely around the tarantula's head.

"I named him after a character in one of my favorite British TV shows." Ranari explained.

"How many pets do you have, Ranari-chan?" Fuji asked.

"Four. The other two are probably asleep in their little hanging bed." Ranari said.

Fuji looked up as she walked over to a corner of the aclove where a small, knitted nest of sorts hung from the ceiling. Ranari took hold of it and stuck a finger inside the opening. Protesting squeaks sounded from inside. Ranari pulled her finger out. A second later, two tiny, squirrel-like creatures came out of it and climbed up Ranari's arm.

"What are those?" Fuji asked.

"Sugar guilders. The bigger one is Plushie and the smaller one is Dutch." Ranari told him.

"Plushie? Dutch?" Fuji asked in amusement.

"I named Plushie that way because he's really fluffy and soft, like a plushie. And Dutch is named after one of the main characters in a Canadian show I like called _Killjoys_." Ranari replied.

Plushie and Dutch stared at Fuji from where they sat on Ranari's shoulder. Ranari reached up and scratched at the head of Plushie.

"You have some strange pets." Fuji said, holding a hand out for the two sugar gliders to sniff.

While Plushie dived into Ranari's hair, brave little Dutch climbed onto his hand. Fuji pulled his hand close to himself, letting the small animal climb up his shirt to his shoulder. Fuji chuckled as Dutch sniffed his face and even climbed up through his hair to the top of his head.

"I like the unusual. Makes me feel less so. And my mother likes them too." Ranari replied.

"I can see why." Fuji remarked.

Ranari picked up Plusie, holding him up so he could climb up the hanging nest. When he was safely off her hand, she turned towards Fuji.

"Would you like something to drink or eat? My mother left us snacks. She didn't want me making anything." Ranari told him.

"That sounds good." Fuji agreed.

Ranari turned and headed for the fridge. She pulled it open and crouched to shift through jars and pitchers. She told him what all they had to drink and they both settled on sodas. Ranari pulled out two cans before pulling out a foil wrapped tray. She kicked the fridge door close and carried the tray and drinks to the table. Fuji took her mother's chair, figuring she wouldn't like it if he sat in hers. Before she sat down, Ranari ran her hands over the doors of a few cabinets before opening one and pulling out a festively painted jar. She sat down at the table with it and opened it, pulling out packets of Taco Bell mild hot sauce.

"Taco Bell hot sauce?" Fuji asked with a chuckle.

"I love the stuff. I could drink it if my mother wouldn't cut off my supply." Ranari replied.

"Your mom doesn't approve of you using too much?" Fuji asked.

"My mother doesn't approve of me complaining about heart burn or indigestion afterward." Ranari replied.

Fuji chuckled. He watched as she reached out with her chopsticks to take some of the sushi rolls her mother had made as a part of the tray of food. He tilted his head in curiosity as the chopsticks clicked against the plate once or twice before she actually picked up the food. He didn't know why she did that, but she did it every time she reached for food, along with smothering said food in hot sauce. Maybe it was a ritual, a habit she couldn't kick. It made him curious, but he didn't ask. Instead, he asked something different.

"Ranari-chan."

"Yes?"

"You and Umi-chan..."

Ranari heaved a sigh when he trailed off slightly. He had a feeling she knew what he wanted to ask. She sat her chopsticks down and leaned back in her chair, Dutch climbing along the back of her chair to drop to sit on her shoulder.

"Let me guess...you're curious about Umi, me, and the whole family issue, right?" Ranari asked.

"Could you blame me?" he asked.

"Not really. A lot of people are curious about it when they first learn of it. Though, there's not much I can say. My father, if I can even call him that, doesn't want me. Nor does his family. Umi is about the only one that has ever treated me like a human and not a plauge in their bloodline. Not that it matters. I have my mother and my grandpa." Ranari told him.

"But it has to be difficult, not having a father around. Mine is gone quite a lot due to work and I know I miss him." Fui remarked.

"You can't miss what you never had."

Fuji had to admit that she had a little bit of a point. That being said, Ranari had to feel hurt by her father's lack of presence in her life. Especially when she knew where he was and who he was and he purposely turned a nose up at her existence.

"Anyway, I got too much going on in life to worry about what he may and may not think of me. Umi's seen to that." Ranari said suddenly.

"You really care about Umi-chan." Fuji remarked.

"Umi, for all her high-handed ways, understands me better than I sometimes wish she did. Aside from my mother and grandpa, she was the first to truly accept me. I just wish we could spend more than just tennis time together." Ranari replied.

And in that comment, lay the biggest problem in Ranari's life. While Umi understood Ranari, accepted her as she was, she was still too scared of her family to openly declare Ranari as friend and family. That probably hurt Ranari just as much as her father's refusal to acknowledge her.

"Well, you have more friends now." Fuji said.

"Yeah. I have the other girls. They've all pretty much taken on the role of big sisters since I first met them." Ranari remarked.

"And now you have my team too." Fuji assured her.

"That remains to be seen. We certainly have a lot of work to do to get everyone relaxed enough where we can play tennis together." Ranari remarked, clicking her chopsticks together.

"You have a point." Fuji admitted.

"I say we all hit the ground running. Instead of focusing on the past, we need to pave way to the future. That's what my grandpa always tells me." Ranari remarked.

"Smart man."

"You bet. And a scary one."

Fuji laughed as Ranari shivered. He had heard from Safaia that Ranari both respected and feared her grandfather, but hearing about it and seeing it in person was two different things. Ranari, though, had a point. They all, as a team, needed to hit the ground running.

Fuji, for one, looked forward to working with Ranari.

END

Kyandi: Secrets, secrets, secrets.

Ranari: Yes, yes, we have a lot of them. No family or group of friends is without, at least, one secret.

Kyandi: Good point.

Umi: Some secrets just have to be kept.

Kyandi: I agree.

Ranari: Wait...you agree?

Kyandi: Yep.

Ranari: Umi, run...something's wrong with her!

Kyandi: Oh, whatever! Let's just get on with this.

Umi: She has a point. Everyone enjoy and review.

Ranari: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!


End file.
